


In My Veins

by siriuslymcfly



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Annoying Older Sister Laura, Cute Stiles, Derek Hale is Bad at Feelings, Derek Is A Senior, Derek has douchey friends, Future Fic, Hale Family Feels, I apologise, M/M, POV Derek, Popular Derek, Stiles Is A Freshman, Stiles is bullied, Years Later, added scenes, later life, oh and there is some intense mario kart playing later, so if you have no idea what is going on in that scene, then POV Stiles later, we don't like them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-29
Updated: 2014-04-04
Packaged: 2018-01-06 13:21:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 35,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1107350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siriuslymcfly/pseuds/siriuslymcfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Senior Year has rolled around and Derek is just about ready to leave Beacon Hills High and all the people with it, until the new Freshmen arrive and one in particular has a way of just getting under his skin. With the status quo disrupted, trouble arises for the pair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In My Veins

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first longer fic I've actually finished! I started it ages ago but never actually got past 10,000 words, then I found it again a few days ago and decided I wanted to finish it.  
> It was supposed to all be in Derek's POV because that needs to happen more often in fics, but then I felt bad for not getting Stiles' side of the story so I did some of his as well.  
> I hope you guys like this! I just love the idea of teenage!derek. I had to make the age gap between him and Stiles a little less for it to work, but I hope you don't mind. 
> 
> Title is a song by Andrew Belle, you should all check it out.
> 
> Okay, so yeah. Enjoy :)

Derek had never really noticed the Stilinski boy before. Sure, their parents were familiar and they went to the same school at one point, but ever since he’d moved up to High School, he had completely forgotten about the kid. He was too busy with his basketball and lacrosse, and actually having friends to sit with at lunch. For Derek, that was a big thing. Throughout Middle School, he’d sat on a table with some of his family and he’d barely ventured past them to actually make any friends of his own. Laura had tried to introduce him to some people, but Derek liked being alone most of the time, so he hadn’t taken her up on the offer. But it had gotten lonely, watching his uncle Peter chat with his friends, and Laura laugh with hers. He had Cora, but it wasn’t the same. So when he’d tried out for the lacrosse team and actually done well, he’d accepted the friendship group that brought, and he forgot about everything he’d left behind in Middle School.

 

It was the beginning of his Senior Year and Derek was ready for High School to just end so he could get out of the stifling town. He rocked up in his brand new Camaro and had everyone staring at him before he’d even walked into school. He pulled his leather jacket on as he got out the car and grinned at a couple of Sophomore girls who were giggling a few meters away. Derek greeted his friends with a nod of his head and a smile to the girls, who in turn beamed happily back at him. Derek was just about to open his locker when someone came barrelling into him. “Oi,” he started as he turned to face whoever had just hit him. There was a kid on the floor, all arms and legs, rubbing his shoulder and wincing. He looked vaguely familiar, but Derek couldn’t place where he had seen him before. The boy noticed his starring and jumped up, looking more gangly than he had on the floor.

“‘m really sorry,” he mumbled. “Didn’t check where I was going.” He had his head down, and he was rubbing the back of his neck just below his buzz cut awkwardly. Tiny moles were dotted around his face, and Derek didn’t know why but he couldn’t find it in himself to be angry anymore.

“Just don’t do it again,” he replied, but there was no bite in his words. The boy nodded furiously before dashing off again, checking over his shoulder every few strides before he disappeared around the corner. Derek shook his head and turned back to his locker.

 

He saw the boy again in lunch. Derek had just sat down on his regular table, and Charlie had clapped him on the back before asking him about their chem homework they’d been given, and how it was so unfair of Harris to give them homework on the first day. Derek grunted in reply, not really agreeing but showing he was listening. He glanced over towards the line queueing for food, already bored with their conversation, and spotted the boy from earlier. He was shuffling along, keeping his head down and his feet moving. He didn’t seem to be able to stand still for more than a few seconds. Again, he kept glancing around as if expecting someone to jump out at him at any moment. Derek frowned as he tried to place the boy’s face. There was only a few years between them, he’d probably just seen him around Middle School at some point. Maybe he had run into him then too?

“Hale? You listening?” Derek snapped his head around and shrugged at Charlie, picking at the inedible food on his tray.

“We were just talking about tryouts. Reckon any of the fresh meat will have it in them?” Rebecca flicked her bleached hair over her shoulder and looked over at the queue. She snorted and nudged Anne-Marie beside her. They both giggled and Derek couldn’t help but turn to see what had caught their attention. On the other side of the room was a floppy brown haired boy holding a tray of food, desperately searching for a free seat. In the end, he sat himself down on the one empty table that no one would sit at, mainly because as soon as you sat down there you would be shunned for all of your High School career. Derek had nearly made that mistake before Peter had dragged him away and shoved him down on a table with his basketball friends. Upon seeing the boy practically doom himself, the rest of his table started sniggering too. None of the other Freshmen had made the mistake, and Derek felt mildly sorry for the boy. Not enough to do anything about it, but he wouldn’t laugh along with his friends. He did crack a smile though when the kid almost fell off his chair.

“Hey look, someone else is going to make the mistake too!” Anne-Marie said almost gleefully. Derek grimaced when he saw the gangly boy from earlier make his way over to the lonely brown haired one. He looked like a man on a mission, striding over without looking at his feet once. Derek was surprised he didn’t trip up. The boy reached the table and introduced himself, causing a smile to creep onto the other boy’s face. More sniggering was heard around Derek’s table. Then suddenly the gangly boy looked around and glared coldly at them before sitting down and launching into a conversation with the other boy. Derek shook away the guilt he felt creeping into his gut and picked up his tray.

“I’m going to throw a ball around in my free period, you coming Chuck?” He knew Chuck had a free too, and the boy nodded, also picking up his tray. As Derek passed the table with the gangly boy on it, he refused to look over, but he could feel his eyes on the back of his head as he left the cafeteria.

 

After that day in the cafeteria, the two Freshmen boys became inseparable. Whenever Derek saw one the other would be close by, usually causing some sort of havek. Not that Derek actively looked out for them, they were just hard to miss. And the gangly boy just seemed to be everywhere all of a sudden. Derek only found out his name when his friend turned up at lacrosse trials with him in tow.

 

The other one, Scott McCall, sat his friend down on the bleachers and grinned at him before joining the others who were trying out. Derek, as co-captain of the team, had stepped up next to Coach Finstock and appraised the new stock. There were a few that he guessed could make decent members of the team, Jackson Whittemore and Danny Māhealani both seemed quite capable. Scott McCall however was not so good. When his group had been given a water break, Derek had handed over to Charlie to oversee the next group while he wandered over to where he had left his bottle.

“It’s no use Stiles, I don’t know why I bothered with this.” Derek looked over to see Scott sitting beside his friend, taking a long drag from his inhaler he was clutching. So the kid’s name was Stiles? _What a weird name_ , Derek thought with a snort.

“Don’t give up Scott, you’re not that bad. I mean, you aren’t exactly Jackson but he’s just a showoff anyway so it doesn’t matter.” Stiles’ tone was much lighter than the last time Derek had heard it properly, and he seemed brighter.

“Jackson is an asshole,” Scott grumbled.

“You don’t have to tell me dude, but at least he isn’t as bad as Ryan.” Derek didn’t know who they were talking about, but he guessed it was just another similar character to Jackson by the way Stiles spoke of him. Derek didn’t stay to listen in any longer, but he did keep glancing over at Stiles throughout the rest of the tryout, only to see him looking more forlorn than when he had been talking to Scott.

 

“Is there a guy named Ryan in your year?” He didn’t know why he had asked, but Derek couldn’t get Stiles’ expression out of his mind. That evening, when he’d finally finished practice with a few of his friends and managed to get home, he’d sat down in the family room where Cora and Laura had been watching TV and mulled over his question before just asking her. Cora was in Stiles’ year, but he didn’t know if she knew him that well. She frowned at his question.

“Yeah, his name is Ryan Crawford. Why?” Derek shrugged.

“Just wondered.” She let it go, but Derek couldn’t help but ask “what’s he like?”

Cora shrugged.

“He’s popular and a show off, but he’s not as harmless as Jackson. Why are you so interested in him? Did he do something today?” Derek shook his head.

“Nope.” Then he got up and left without any more of an explanation.

 

Derek wasn’t obsessed, because 17 year olds don’t get obsessed over awkward, gangly, hyperactive 14 year olds. Especially 17 year olds who were co-captain of the lacrosse team and captain of the basketball team. It just didn’t happen. He was intrigued by the teenager though. One minute Stiles would be grinning happily at his only friend, and the next he would be back to how Derek had first spoke to him, nervous and twitchy. He’d worked out why the boy had seemed so familiar. He’d met him once before, when they were younger. He was the Sheriff’s boy. Their mums had bumped into each other when they had been groceries shopping and Derek and Stiles had just smiled awkwardly at each other while they talked. He had had longer hair back then. Not as long as Scott’s, which seemed to constantly flop into his eyes, but it had been long enough to run your fingers through. Derek also knew that Stiles’ mum had died a few years after that, when the boy had been in 7th grade.

 

As the weeks went by, Derek would spot Stiles more and more in the hallways, and he’d pointedly try and ignore him when he turned up at lacrosse practice. Somehow Scott had managed to make the team, but he would be sat on the bench during games. Stiles sat with him, chatting away about whatever it was they talked about. During lunch, Derek would sit with his back to their table to make sure he didn’t find himself staring. He’d even throw himself into conversations with Chuck about the latest sporting news. But when he was alone, he’d ponder over what made the boy so interesting. Maybe it was his complete disinterest in being popular or well liked by everyone. Or perhaps it was his amusing antics, always getting him into trouble, not only with the teachers at school but often with fellow students. Derek wasn’t the only one Stiles had accidently run into during his first few weeks of High School. He was probably the only one who thought about it so regularly though.

 

It was Laura who noticed his distraction first. She sat down in the chair opposite him on the dining table, shoving a few of Derek’s books out of her way. He grumbled in complaint to her but didn’t look up from his homework. “What’s up with you Derek?”

“I don’t know what you mean Laura.” She rolled her eyes, he could tell without even looking at her.

“Don’t give me that. You’ve been distracted for weeks, ever since you started back at school really. What’s up?” He sighed.

“Nothing Laura, I’ve just been busy with school work and lacrosse.”

“Bullshit, you’ve always had school work and lacrosse and you’ve never been acting like this. You used to at least spend a few evenings a week with us on our movie nights, but now we barely see you. You’re always up in your room being mopey and teenagery.” It was his turn to roll his eyes.

“That’s not a word Laura, I thought you were the one studying English.” She huffed. “Look, this year is just tough, so I’m trying to stay on top of everything. There’s nothing wrong.” He looked up and met her sceptical gaze.

“Are you sure you’re not having girl troubles or whatever?” Derek tried very hard not to blush, but she caught the rising colour in his cheeks and grinned.

“Knew it! So, what’s her name?” He glared and turned back to his books.

“Go away Laura, I’m trying to study."

“Aw, c’mon Derek! Finally you’re showing some interest in something other than work and sport and I just want to know who it is that’s dragged your attention away!”

“It’s no one Laura,” he growled angrily.

“Derek! C’mon Derek! Derek Derek Derek,” she chanted childishly until their mother had come in and pulled her away with a scornful gaze and a few sharp words. Laura didn’t look all that apologetic though, and she sent Derek an _'I’ll get you later'_ look.

 

The next time he saw Stiles was when he’d left History to get a book he’d forgotten from his locker. He’d been walking down the empty corridors when he’d heard raised voices around the corner. Derek peeked round and saw Stiles kneeling on the floor, desperately trying to pick up something that had spilled all over his books that were falling out from his bag. Two boys stood above him, laughing.

“What’s with all the pills Stilinski?” One jeered, and kicked Stiles’ bag, making more things fall out of it. The other leant back against a locker arrogantly.

“We all knew you were a spaz Stilinski but I didn’t realise you were a _medicated_ spaz,” he drawled, making Stiles grab for his things faster. Derek stormed around the corner and over to the boys. They noticed him before Stiles did.

“Something wrong here?” he asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms across his chest. He knew he was built well and taller than the two boys, and if it came down to it he could take them easily. They seemed to realise that too; glancing at each other, they then scowled at him before turning away.

“See you around Stilinski,” the second one called before they both disappeared. Derek looked down to see Stiles shoving anything he could reach back in his bag. He basically had everything, but an almost empty pot rolled out of his reach and gently into Derek’s foot. He bent down and picked it up. It was a prescription bottle for Adderall. Stiles hoisted the now full rucksack back onto his shoulder and glanced up at Derek. He flushed red in embarrassment, and took the pills back with a mumbled thank you.

“Was one of those guys Ryan Crawford?” Derek asked before Stiles could scurry away.

“Yeah, the taller one,” he replied quietly, still looking adementy at his feet. Derek shoved his hands in his pockets. They stand awkwardly together in the corridor for a minute or so, and it reminded Derek of that time in the grocery store so much that he almost smiled.

“You know your Adderall isn’t anything to be ashamed of,” Derek stated and walked off before Stiles could reply.

 

Derek regretted his comment and obsessed over it for the rest of the morning. He couldn’t get their conversation out of his head, and he almost skipped lunch to go work out on the lacrosse pitch or run a few drills on the courts, but he had chem with Charlie and he dragged him to the cafeteria before he could protest. Derek sat down next to Rebecca and she broke away from her conversation with Anne-Marie to smile warmly at him. He had guessed she had feelings for him last year, but he hadn’t done anything about it. He had hoped she would just move on.

“How was your morning?” she asked brightly, that sickly sweet voice already starting to grate on his nerves. He shrugged.

“Uneventful.”

“So, we were thinking about throwing a party at my house this weekend. My parents are out of town and we have the house the _whole_ time. What do you think?” Derek shrugged again.

“Sure.” Seemingly put out by his lack of response, Rebecca looked around for the replies of everyone else. They all seemed keen, and made the arrangements without disturbing Derek. He only looked up again when he felt a sharp jab in his side.

“That loser kid is staring at you,” Rebecca said and gestured with her head behind Derek. He already knew who she was talking about, but he turned around anyway. Stiles looked away quickly as soon as he saw all of them staring at him and Derek could see the blush from all the way across the room. He shook his head and turned back to his food, ignoring the looks he was receiving from his friends.

“Aw, I think he has a crush on you Derek,” she cooed. He rolled his eyes. “Someone should probably break it to him that you don’t swing that way.” The way she said it made him glare at her coldly.

“Leave the kid alone Rebecca,” he snapped. She pouted like a scorned puppy and turned to Max to get some sympathy she knew he’d give her. Derek rolled his eyes again, but he hoped his tone would keep her away from Stiles.

 

Derek decided that his fascination had gone too far. He was going to ignore the Stilinski boy from now on, he was going to finish his Senior Year, he was going to go to College and he was going to completely forget about him. His plan would have been much easier if he didn’t start bumping into Stiles outside of school too. He could avoid him in school, that was easy enough, but it was a lot harder when the boy would suddenly be at the same screening in cinema, or the same shops in the mall, or even the same damn parties. He didn’t even know how a 14 year old, _15_ , he corrected himself - Stiles’ birthday had been a few days before - could get in to one of their parties. But he was there, Scott beside him, gazing around themselves in awe. Derek groaned inwardly when he had spotted the pair in the hallway of Chuck’s house. The party had already been going on for an hour or so, and he decided he was too lazy to kick the two out. Honestly, he was mildly impressed they had even managed to find out about it, what with their lack of other friends and all. There were a few other freshmen there, Jackson and Danny because of their places on the team and others because they were sort of cool, so it would seem unfair to kick Stiles and Scott out. So Derek let them be. He did however go find another drink, because he was not going to forget about the boy without some more alcohol in his system.

 

His plan of avoiding Stiles at the party was almost as useless as his one for not thinking about him. When people started leaving or passing out, Derek went to find Chuck so he could help kick people out. He passed through the sitting room and saw a desperate looking Scott hovering by one of the couches. Pausing, Derek saw Scott whispering furiously to whoever was out of sight on the couch. He was almost certain it must be Stiles. Sighing, he wandered over. Scott looked up and the sound of him approaching and gulped nervously. He was still scared of him for some reason. It probably had to do with that tackle he did the other day in practice that sent Scott flying. He hadn’t meant to, he had been busy watching Stiles chat with another freshman, a girl named Lydia Martin. She hadn’t seemed to be replying to him, but that didn’t stop Stiles. He had seemed completely besotted with her, and it had made Derek’s blood boil for some reason.

“What’s wrong?” he asked gruffly.

“It’s er- well I need to get home, but Stiles- he won’t get up..” Derek raised an eyebrow and peered over the side of the couch. Stiles was lying on his back, arms folded behind his head and gazing forward with a dopey smile plastered on his face. His eyes were unfocused and almost closed.

“Scotty, why don’t we just stay here forever? I love it here, I don’t have to worry about anything!”

“He’s wasted.” Derek stated, staring disapprovingly at Scott.

“I didn’t realise he was drinking so much! But I need to get him home otherwise his dad is going to go crazy and my mum will be so angry and-” Derek held up his hand, cutting him off.

“How did you get here?”

“We walked, we only live like down the road so..”

“Is anyone at his house?” Scott nodded.

“His dad should be, but he’ll be asleep by now. I just need to get him up to his room and in his bed so his dad won’t suspect anything.” Derek sighed. He knew what he should do, but it didn’t mean he was going to do it. He should just get Stiles up and kick him and Scott out so they could make their own way home. But he didn’t like the idea of a completely plastered Stiles staggering home in the dark where anything could happen to him.

“Right, I’ll drive him home. You can walk back right?” Scott nodded. “Okay, what’s his address?” Scott recited the address and told him where they kept the spare key, then left Derek to pick Stiles up and carry him out to his car.

 

The boy chatted endlessly on the short trip. Derek was pretty sure he didn’t even take a breath. It was slurred and incomprehensible at times because of the alcohol, but Derek caught most of it. Stiles just seemed to ramble about anything that came to mind. He didn’t even seem aware of who he was talking to, just that it was a person willing to stay quiet and listen to him. Derek pulled up quietly outside his house and pulled Stiles out of the car. He put Stiles down long enough to unlock the door, then he carried him inside and up the stairs, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Stiles had his head on Derek’s shoulder, and had quit his mumbling so he could bury his face into Derek’s shirt. His breath fluttered over Derek’s skin, leaving goosebumps in it’s wake. Stiles giggled loudly as Derek dropped him on his bed, not as gently as he could have but the boy didn’t seem to mind. Derek knew he should leave, but he knelt down and started undoing Stiles’ shoes. Then, he tugged off the boy’s socks and dumped them in the overflowing hamper in the corner of the room. Stiles watched him with an unreadable expression, looking more sober than he had all evening.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked, voice muffled by the pillow by his mouth. Derek paused, then ventured into the bathroom they’d passed on the way in. He grabbed the glass by the sink and filled it with water. When he returned to Stiles’ room, the boy had pulled off his t-shirt and thrown his jeans onto the floor. He hadn’t bothered with getting under his covers, and Derek had a perfect view of his surprisingly lean back, littered with yellowing bruises. Placing the water on his bedside table, Derek leaned over and gazed at the bruises. He had no idea how Stiles could have got those without someone else being involved. Derek jumped back when Stiles shifted, rolling over so he was facing the door. Taking it as his cue to leave, Derek flicked the light off when he reached the doorway. Just as he left, he caught a gentle huff that sounded like “thanks Derek” but he couldn’t be sure.

 

The bruises plagued Derek’s thoughts for two weeks after that incident. He had no idea how he could ask Stiles about it without outright asking him where he had got them from. And by the way the boy was ignoring him, he remembered the evening and was either embarrassed or irritated with Derek. That didn’t stand Derek in good stead for asking him personal questions about his possibly abusive father, school bullies or regular illegal fight club meetings. Those were the only options Derek had come up with, and okay the third was slightly more unlikely, but it was preferable to the other two because at least Stiles would be _choosing_ that option. The first one seemed pretty unlikely too because he’d met the Sheriff and he was a nice guy, and he knew his parents respected him.

He felt bad letting the problem fester away while he could be doing something about it. He watched Stiles closely for the two weeks, and he noticed how the boy would wince at the sound of lockers slamming shut, how he would nervously glance over his shoulder when he wasn’t with Scott in the corridors, and mainly how he just seemed more down the further into the semester they got.

 

Stiles turned up to school on the last monday of the semester before Christmas break with a black eye. It was the final straw for Derek, but he had no idea what he was supposed to do. So he turned to his family, because that had always helped him before. When he got home, only his mother and Laura were there, both preparing dinner. He came in and sat down at the kitchen table, dumping his school bag on the seat next to himself. The two women seemed to realise something was wrong.

“What’s wrong Derek?” his mother asked while whisking some eggs in a large bowl. Derek chewed on the inside of his cheek while he tried to think how to word his question.

“How can you tell who someone is being hurt by?” he asked carefully. Laura came and sat down opposite him.

“That depends on what you mean by hurt Derek?” his mother replied, putting the bowl down and weighing out some different ingredients.

“I mean, physically hurt.” Laura raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Is this about that girl you wouldn’t tell me about?” Derek ignored her and waited for his mother’s reply.

“Well, you’d have to see how they act around different people I suppose. If they’re being hurt by someone of their own age group, then they might be more jumpy around them. If it’s an adult, they’ll probably be more suspicious of adults. How do you know this person is being hurt?” Derek sighed.

“They have.. bruises. A lot of them.” His mother put down her utensils and came to sit down at the table too.

“Have you talked to them about it?” Derek shook his head.

“We’re not exactly.. close.” She nodded.

“If you don’t feel comfortable approaching them, then maybe you should talk to their friends? See if they know anything that could explain it?” Derek thought about it, and nodded. He could talk to Scott. The boy would be too afraid to tell anyone he was asking about Stiles, right?

“Thanks mum,” he said as he got up again. She smiled comfortingly and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“If this is something serious you should tell me.” She gave him a solemn look and he nodded again.

“Of course mum.”

 

Derek didn’t notice his sister follow him out until Laura grabbed hold of him and yanked him into her room. She pushed him forward onto her bed and sat down next in her desk chair, crossing her legs and folding her arms. “Why won’t you tell me who it is?” He sighed.

“It’s no one Laura, you wouldn’t even know them so drop it.” She huffed.

“Obviously she’s not no one Derek if you’re concerned about her!” He flinched at her choice in pronoun and she spotted it. Laura had always been astute. “Is _that_ why you won’t tell me? Because it’s a guy?” Derek glared at her. “God Derek, I always had some sort of sneaky suspicion, you could have just said! I don’t care you know.”

“It’s not that simple Laura, and I don’t _like_ him like that. I can’t,” he added at the end in a lower tone.

“If you don’t like him then why have you been obsessing over him for months?”

“I’m not _obsessing_ ,” he hissed out. She rolled her eyes.

“We’ve all noticed it Derek, I’m just the only one who’s willing to say anything.”

“That’s because you have no concept of privacy,” he bit back, but Laura merely rolled her eyes.

“So, you think someone is beating him up?” The harshness of the words drove it home and Derek winced. Was Stiles being beaten up? Was he sitting here doing nothing while the gangly boy was being beaten up _right that minute_? “I’ll take that as a yes.” Laura paused. “What are you going to do about it?” Derek jumped up, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he strode over to her door. She huffed again. “You’re welcome!” She called after him but he didn’t reply.

 

“Charlie, I need Scott McCall’s number,” Derek demanded as soon as his friend picked up. Charlie grunted.

“Why? I don’t even have it.” Derek growled in annoyance.

“Then get it off someone, phone Coach if you have to, I don’t care. Just get me that number.”

“What the hell Derek? Why’s it so important?”

“Doesn’t matter Charlie, just get it.” And then he hung up. He knew Charlie would do it, he was like that. Always seeking for ways to gain popularity, and if that meant doing what Derek wanted then he would. Derek couldn’t even bring himself to feel bad for using it.

 

The text came through ten minutes later. Derek dialed the number as soon as he got it. Scott picked up on the third ring. “Hello? Who is this?”

“It’s Derek, Derek Hale.” He heard Scott’s sharp intake of breath.  
“How did you get my number?”

“Does that matter? I need to ask you something.” He heard Scott huff but he didn’t complain. “Who gave Stiles that black eye?”

“I- what?” Derek tutted in annoyance.

“The black eye, who gave it to Stiles? Who hit him?”

“Er, I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me,” Scott stuttered.

“Is anyone giving him trouble at school?” Derek sat down at his desk and ran a hand through his hair.

“I don’t- look I don’t know why you’re asking all these questions but Stiles would tell me if he’s in any sort of trouble.” Derek growled and stood up again to start pacing.

“That’s great, just like he told you who hit him? Because that’s not trouble at all.”

“Why do you care anyway? You’re not even friends with Stiles.” Scott said defensively. “Unless it was you who punched him and you don’t want him telling anyone? That’s it isn’t it!” Derek almost hung up in annoyance at Scott’s naivety.

“No you idiot, it wasn’t me. And it doesn’t matter why I asked, but let me know when you find out what’s up with him.” Derek made sure it was known that he expected Scott to get to the bottom of his friend’s injuries. “Just don’t mention this conversation to anyone, got it?” He heard Scott squeak out a reply and Derek hung up. He scrubbed his face in frustration after he chucked his phone down onto his bed.

 

Turns out, Derek didn’t need to wait for Scott to find out what happened to Stiles. He was late for practice one evening because of overdue homework, so dashed into the locker room when it was already empty. He flung his locker open and grabbed his kit, throwing his leather jacket into it and tugging off his t-shirt. A noise from the other side of the room made him jump. Derek stopped when he heard the voices, and he was already striding over before he’d even told his legs to move when he heard Stiles’ voice, tough but wavering.

“Come on Stilinski, did your mother never teach you _any_ manners? Or did she drop dead before she could?” Stiles was being pinned to a locker by Ryan, his black eye looking worse than it had yesterday, more purple than red. He looked like he’d just been punched in the gut with those words. Derek jumped into action, yanking the other boy off him and swinging his fist round so it would connect with Ryan’s jaw. He saw red. Ryan tried to get him back, but Derek dodged it and tackled him to the floor. Ryan didn’t even get one good hit before Derek had him pinned and was slamming his fist into his face.

“Derek!” Stiles shouted, but Derek ignored him. The kid would pay for what he said to Stiles. And then suddenly he was being pulled away by two pairs of hands, and he was face to face with a furious looking Finstock.

“What the _hell_ is going on in here?!” He glanced between the three boys. “All three of you, Principal's office now!” Derek shrugged out of the grip of Charlie and Chuck, the ones who had pulled him off, and he strode over to his locker to grab his t-shirt before he left to the Principal's office.

 

He had to go in and speak first. She grilled him for a good ten minutes before his mother turned up to have their meeting. Then she proceeded to grill him again while his mother watched on, her face unreadable. Finally his mother pointed out that it had been in defense of another student, and surely that should mean his punishment shouldn’t be too harsh. Derek walked out of the office with a week's suspension, and his mother told him he was lucky nothing was going on his record and affecting his college applications. Out in the waiting room, Ryan sat on one side with his father, smirking at Stiles who sat alone, slumped and defeated in his seat. Derek was so tempted to hit the boy again, but his mother placed a calming hand on his arm as if she knew what he was about to do. She then walked over to Stiles.

“You must be Stiles, we’ve met before, but I’m Talia Hale.” Stiles shuffled up in his seat and shook the hand she held out.

“I remember, it was in the grocery store right? My- my mum knew you?” Derek saw him flinch at the memory, but Stiles kept his gaze steady on his mother. She smiled sadly and nodded.

“Yes, I knew her through work. She was a lovely woman, always very kind.” Stiles nodded and looked down at his hands. “Is your father coming?” He shrugged.

“I think so, but I guess he’s caught up at the station or something.” Derek watched as his mother sat down on one of the seats beside Stiles.

“Well, we can wait with you if you’d like?” Stiles looked over at Derek and their eyes locked. Derek had never really noticed before, but the boy’s eyes were whisky brown, lighter than Derek had originally thought. A slight blush crept up his neck and he looked away, embarrassed by their long stare. His mother would be sure to notice it, she was just as astute as Laura, maybe even more so.

“Sure,” Stiles agreed quietly.

 

They’d left as soon as Sheriff Stilinski had thanked them for waiting with Stiles. Derek had made sure to emphasise to the Principal that Stiles was not to blame for the incident, that it had been all him, so hopefully Stiles would only get reprimanded for not telling someone sooner about the ongoing bullying. He’d grabbed Derek’s wrist just before they had gone though, and muttered a quick but heartfelt thank you. His mother had waited patiently for Derek to smile half heartedly then dash away, and thankfully she hadn’t said anything on the drive home. However, as soon as they got home he was greeted with practically his whole family who weren’t in school. Peter grinned at him from the doorway into the sitting room and Laura pushed past him to frown at her brother. His Uncle Owen and Aunt Nora, his father’s brother and sister in law, were in the kitchen and both poked their heads around the door to see who had arrived. But Derek didn’t get a chance to talk to any of them, because his mother directed him to her office and closed the door behind them.

 

“That’s the boy who you thought was getting hurt?” It was phrased as a question, but his mother knew the answer. Of course she did. Derek sighed and nodded. “Well, looks like you weren’t wrong.” He didn’t crack a smile, but she did. “I’m very disappointed in you for resorting to violence like that Derek, but just this once I will allow it because that boy was asking for it. Saying something like that..” She shook her head. “Just don’t make this a habit okay?” Derek nodded, this time with a smile playing at his lips. He was about to get up and leave when his mother’s voice stopped him. “He’s very young Derek.”

“Mum, I- I don’t- I’m not-” She held up a hand.

“Derek, I know you. You’re usually very sensible, and I trust you, but just keep that in mind okay?” Derek sighed and nodded, not wanting to argue with her.

“Can I go now?” he asked and she laughed, gesturing to the door.

“Feel free. Make sure you let your friends know that you’re grounded and they need to bring your homework over.” Derek groaned as he left the room, not even bothering to explain to the rest of his family what had happened. His mother could do that.

 

Derek didn’t see Stiles until after the Christmas break, and even then they didn’t have anything to do with each other, beside Derek watching on from a distance, cataloging Stiles' behaviour to make sure he was being left alone by Ryan. It wasn't until his family decided to throw their annual party on the 2nd of February that they interacted again. They called it a Groundhog Day party, only because of his Grandmother who had celebrated it every year when she was back at home, but it didn’t ever have anything to do with the holiday. They just used the excuse to throw a party. Usually, they invited other people in the Beacon Hills community, and Derek would stay well out of their way and use it as time to sneak alcohol around his parents without them noticing. Then he and Laura and sometimes Peter would hole themselves away in one of the bedrooms and drink until the party was over. This year though, the Sheriff had actually taken the Hale family up on their offer, and Derek desperately wanted to know if Stiles would be coming with him.

 

He got his answer when his mother, not so subtly, told him casually over dinner the night before that the Sheriff would be bringing his son and maybe Derek would like to keep the boy company while the Sheriff could hang out with the adults. He had glared daggers at her for the rest of the meal, but secretly he was glad she had mentioned it. At least that gave him enough notice to clean his room properly and mentally prepare himself for what was about to happen.

 

The guests started arriving in the early afternoon, but the Stilinskis were one of the last to pull up in the overflowing driveway. Derek watched from the sitting room window as Stiles clambered out of his dad’s cruiser and glanced around himself, awe written plainly across his face. Derek watched as the pair made their way towards the front door and were greeted by his mother who smiled warmly. She ushered them into the foyer and Derek could see the back of Stiles from where he ~~hid~~ stood (he wasn't creepy).

“Sheriff! I’m so glad you could make it,” his mother said happily.

“It’s John, no need for all these formalities. Sorry we’re late,” Sheriff Stilinski replied gruffly. “ _Someone_ took forever to get ready.” Derek just knew that Stiles was blushing at that comment and it made his stomach jolt with the need to see it, to take it in.

“Don’t worry about it John. How are you Stiles?” Derek saw Stiles’ head bob up and down and he mumbled a reply that he couldn’t catch. “Well, the party is round the back, so how about I show you through John? Stiles, I’m sure you don’t want to be bored by all our talking, Derek can show you around if you’d like?” Derek blanched at her words. When she called for him, he waited a few seconds before walking out into the foyer like he hadn’t been eavesdropping on their whole conversation. Stiles had turned to see him, and the Sheriff gave him a smile. Derek pointedly did not look at those wide whisky eyes boring into the side of his face.

 

“You’ll show Stiles around right Derek?” He was tempted to glare at his mother for her meddling, but instead he gave her that perfected charming smile all adults couldn’t resist and nodded.

“Of course mother,” he said in a sickly sweet tone that she knew meant she was in trouble later. Talia Hale only smiled a little wickedly at her son though before leading the Sheriff through the house and to the back yard to join the other partygoers. That left a silently fuming Derek and a very awkward looking Stiles, but not for long.

“Hey Derek, who’s this?” Laura had just come down the stairs, and was now standing in front of Stiles with a wide grin on her face. Derek saw Stiles blush again and he felt something hot lap around the pit of his stomach. Why could Laura make Stiles blush like that?

“I’m Stiles, Stiles Stilinski,” Stiles replied for him when Derek didn’t say anything.

“Sti- _oh_.” A look of realisation came over Laura and her grin turned more into a smirk. “ _You’re_ the one Derek beat someone up for. Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Stiles.” She shot an evil smirk to Derek before adding, “Derek mentions you _all_ the time.” And then she dashed off again before Derek could throttle her.

“I don’t- she likes to wind people up, sorry.” Derek ran a hand through his hair and looked anywhere but the boy in front of him. “Erm, I’ll show you around, c’mon.” Stiles followed him wordlessly.

 

“So Stiles, tell me about yourself. What year are you in?” After the grand tour that had been incredibly awkward and mostly quiet, Derek had taken Stiles to his room because he couldn’t think of anything else to do. He couldn’t tell if it was a good thing or a completely terrible thing that they were joined by Laura and Peter only a few minutes later, he was still trying to decide. Either it was total humiliation from his relatives, or relatively awkward silence from Stiles.

“I’m a freshmen.” Stiles was sitting in Derek’s desk chair, legs folded up so his feet didn’t touch the ground and hands playing with the threads on his jeans. Laura and Peter were on the floor on the beanbags Derek had there, and Derek was on his bed facing the others.

“You’re only 14?” Peter shot Derek a look, which he ignored. Surprisingly Stiles huffed.

“I’m 15 actually, my birthday’s in October, and I'm mature for my age. I take mostly advanced classes with sophomores.” Peter looked mildly impressed, and Laura was grinning again. Did she ever stop? Derek was just surprised the boy had stood up to his uncle.

“Right, because mature people have a water fight in the school hallways in between classes.” Derek didn’t even realise he had said it until everyone was staring at him. But Stiles seemed to recover quickest, and he grinned.

“That was hilarious and you know it. Plus, we got Jackson in the face and who _doesn’t_ want to shoot Jackson in the face with a water pistol?” Derek did not grin at that. No way was a grin creeping onto his face. Nope.

“You got detention for that. Still worth it?” Stiles paused.

“How did you know about that?”

“Harris dragged you and McCall away by your shirt collars. I’m pretty sure everyone knew you two got detention for that.” Stiles grinned again.

“It was totally worth it though.” Before Derek could reply they heard his mother calling up the stairs that the barbeque was ready. Stiles jumped up and Derek followed, completely forgetting about his sister and uncle still in the room, watching in mild amusement.

 

They spent the evening like that, bantering back and forth, completely unaware of the looks they were getting or the attention they received. Derek like talking with Stiles. He was immature at times, but his conversations were interesting and funny and Derek _really_ enjoyed it. So when it came time for Stiles to leave, both seemed reluctant to get up off the couch. When they reached the door, Sheriff Stilinski was saying goodbye to his mother. Talia smiled at the two boys. "You ready to go kiddo?" The sheriff asked Stiles who nodded. Their goodbye had been less awkward than their greeting, and Stiles had even waved at him as their car pulled out of the drive. Derek didn't hang around to hear his mother's teasing, but he didn't get away from Laura's. It went on until Derek just gave up and went to bed, even Cora joined in, which made it worse since she could actually tell Stiles all about it in their lessons together.

 

Derek didn't know how he was supposed to act with Stiles at school after the party. He parked his Camaro in his usual space next to Chuck's and spotted Stiles chaining up his bike next to McCall's only a few meters away. Derek was about to just suck up his pride and actually say hello to the boy when his friends appeared either side of him. Stiles looked up at the noise and smiled at Derek, but Derek didn't get the chance to say anything.

"Hey kid!" Rebecca had arrived, and she curled an arm around Derek's waist, practically glued herself to his side. Stiles' smile dropped and he eyed her warily. "Derek's not interested so how about you get over your little obsession with him?" She seemed to press herself even closer as she spoke, and Stiles flushed bright red. The rest of his friends laughed, and Derek growled, shoving Rebecca off with more force than necessary. Stiles had disappeared by the time Derek managed to free himself from his friends, so he didn't see how Stiles had taken the words. He had a pretty good idea though, and he groaned because they had been so close; Stiles had smiled. He had actually acknowledged Derek in school time without Derek initiating it. And then his friends had to screw everything up.

 

Stiles wasn't in the hallways before first period, nor was he in lunch when Derek arrived. He was starting to worry until finally he spotted the boy grabbing some fruit and joining his friend on their regular table. He didn't stay long though. Stiles only sat for a few minutes before getting up again, looking around himself as he left. Derek jumped up, jostling Chuck and the newest addition to their table, Andy. He was a nice guy, more down to earth than the others. "You alright Derek?" He asked.

"Yeah, just.. Homework. Forgot to hand it in," Derek grunted out before leaving the table behind.

 

Derek wandered around the hallways aimlessly, having no idea where to start looking for Stiles. He tried the library, a couple of classrooms and even the locker room. Eventually, he spotted the familiar buzz cut in the bleachers by the lacrosse pitch. Stiles was sitting a few rows up, tossing his uneaten apple between his hands. He dropped it a few times, and didn't bother after the fourth scavenge under his seat for the fruit.

"Hey." Derek sat down beside him, far enough away to be completely platonic. Stiles still shuffled away slightly. "I- er- about earlier.."

"If you don't want me talking to you at school then that's okay. I can do that. I mean, it's not like you noticed who I was before after all right? And I get that you wouldn't want your friends thinking some loser like me has a crush on you or something. Not that I do! Because I don't, because that would be weird wouldn't it? But we can still talk outside of school right? Like if we're alone? Because we had fun at your party, well I did anyways." Derek listened to his nervous rambling until Stiles seemed to run out if steam, finally coming to a stop and letting his words hang in the air between them.

"You still want to talk to me outside of school?"

"I- oh jeez, that's what you got from that?" Derek shrugged.

"I also got the stupid suggestion about actually caring what my friends think, but I chose to ignore it." Finally Stiles looked up from his knees to stare at Derek. "I'm sorry for earlier, Rebecca had no right to talk to you like that." Stiles shrugged, as if he didn't care, but his eyes betrayed him.

"It's okay, she's the overprotective girlfriend type, I get it." Derek actually shuddered at that.

"We are not together," he said quickly with a grimace, causing Stiles to chuckle at him and visibly relax.

"Oh good, because she is a bitch and you could do way better.” Derek laughed loudly at that, a real breathless laugh that had Stiles cracking up beside him. And once they had calmed down, they had talked, just like they had at the party. It was easy, natural, the conversation was just flowing like they had been friends for years. Stiles talked more, but Derek listened attentively, committing everything the boy said to memory. He chatted about how he was thinking about trying out for the track team, which was starting their practices before spring break so they could get in the most training possible. And in turn Derek told him about how he had gotten involved in lacrosse and basketball.

 

When the bell rang for lessons, it was like Stiles was departing with his father all over again. Neither of them wanted to leave the bleachers, leave their private spot behind and face the real world again. But Derek had an English test and Stiles had chemistry with Mr Harris and neither could miss them. So Stiles waved goodbye once they got back to the main school building and left to find his locker.

 

His friends were obtuse, but not completely imperceptive. They realised that Derek was distant, but they finally caught on that he was now in some sort of friendship with the weird freshmen kid who had some serious impulse control issues and could talk for hours. It took a couple of months, but Rebecca, closely tailed by Anne-Marie, approached him on in the corridor after their lesson together a few weeks before Spring Break. Derek had been avoiding her ever since she’d tried to ask him to accompany her to the end of season party being held at Charlie’s place that weekend. But she had cornered him now, and there was no getting away from the determined look on her face. Leaning casually against the locker beside Derek’s, Rebecca smiled.

“How’s it going Derek?” He sighed.

“I’ve already told you I can’t make the party Rebecca.” She continued to smile.

“Oh I know, I’m going with Max anyway," she dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "No, I was just going to tell you that you’ll be missing out on some _real_ fun. I mean, it’s end of the season, so The Rite needs to be done. Or had you forgotten about that?” She was right, he had forgotten about the tradition. After every new season was over, they would make the new members of the team do something to prove they were worthy of the position. It was one of the most pointless traditions Derek had heard of, but it had been in place for years and he couldn’t do anything to change it. When he had been new, he - alongside the other new members - had just had to go to school shirtless for the whole day. It hadn’t been that bad, but it had been fairly chilled Seniors who had been running it, so Derek guessed he got let off lightly. He was pretty sure however that this year would be more tough on the fresh meat. And he didn’t want to be there to see it, but as co-captain he probably should. Hell, he should have been the one planning it.

 

“I told you, I can’t make it.” Rebecca’s smile morphed into a smirk, her eyes crinkling in that way that Derek knew meant she was planning, or had been planning, either way.

“Oh, that’s too bad. The fun bit is that it’s not just the lacrosse team that are being tested this year.” Derek’s face must have shown his surprise so she continued, all too happy to be delivering fresh gossip. “I pointed out to Charlie that it was _so unfair_ that it was only the lacrosse players who had to be tested, so he suggested that the other sports teams should be involved too! How great is that?” She buffed her nails against her top and shared a smile with Anne-Marie who was hanging on behind her. Derek tried his hardest not to blanch. If other teams were now involved, did that mean Stiles would have to go through The Rite too?

“How kind of you,” he said as he closed his locker and leaned against it to face Rebecca. “I suppose if this thing is going to be so _fun_ I can blow off my other plans.”

“Really? That’s great, so we’ll be seeing you there? You _don’t_ want to miss this.” Derek watched her as she stalked off, hair flicking dramatics on full, people jumping out of her way as she went. He knew this was about Stiles, he just _knew_. Never before had other teams been involved, and it was too much of a coincidence that Stiles would only just be put on the track team and now all of a sudden they would be doing The Rite too.

 

Derek never got the chance to warn him. Stiles was out of school for the last two days of that week, and he couldn’t exactly go round his house and tell him all about the senior’s secret plan to embarrass the hell out of every freshmen that turned up at the party. He couldn’t tell Scott either, since it was forbidden to let anyone in on the secret, and Scott was the worst at keeping secrets, or so Stiles said. Derek found that all too easy to believe. So all he could do was wait impatiently for Saturday night to arrive, annoying the hell out of anyone who spent longer than ten minutes in his presence. Cora had threatened to stab him with her pen while they did homework together in the dining room friday evening, and Laura had actually hit him with the spatula she had been using to make breakfast on saturday morning.

 

But finally it was time for him to go over to Charlie’s place. He got there slightly too early in his eagerness, but he helped set up and sat down with Chuck who explained what the plan was. It didn’t actually sound too bad. They were just planning on making the freshmen do a couple of physical challenges and take a few shots after completing each one. Derek waited around with Andy in the family room just off the main hallway, his seat placed with a good view of the front door so he could see who was arriving. He was the first to spot Scott and Stiles enter the house, but Charlie beat him to greeting them.

“Hey guys, glad you could make it. We’ve got a little surprise for you and your fellow freshmen. Once you all turn up we’ll be waiting for you out back, cool?” They looked confused, but Stiles and Scott nodded and Charlie left them. Andy nudged Derek, and he turned to see a small smile on the other guy’s face.

“You should go talk to him,” Andy suggested.

“You’re too smart to be hanging out with this lot,” Derek replied but got up. Andy laughed and rolled his eyes.

“I know, now go before he wanders off somewhere.” Derek didn’t need telling twice.

 

“Stiles.” Said boy looked up from where he had been inspecting the beer cooler and smiled widely, his eyes lighting up and making Derek _feel_ things that he shouldn’t have been feeling.

“Hey, well done on the win. Do I need to kiss your feet every time I see you now you’re the captain of the state champions?” Derek rolled his eyes and Stiles just grinned some more.

“Co-captain.”

“I’m not putting my mouth anywhere near Mitchell’s feet,” Stiles said in mild disgust.

“You’re ridiculous,” Derek couldn’t help but say with a fond smile.

“I just make your life a little bit more interesting. Anyway, I’m guessing you know what the big surprise is for us Freshmen right?” Derek shrugged. “Fine, be that way. Keep your special Seniors secrets.”

“Why weren’t you in school? I was going to warn you.” Derek watched as Stiles tensed up and the smile on his face became a little more forced.

“I was sick.” He then reached for a beer bottle and prised the cap off. “I should head out back. You know, for this big surprise or whatever.” Derek knew he was lying, but he let it go.

“I wouldn’t drink that if I were you.” He pointed to the bottle Stiles had already taken a swig from and grimaced from the taste. “You’ll be having plenty of stuff later,” he muttered afterwards but Stiles ignored him and started heading through the house, drinking the beer as he went.

 

Stiles did okay in the first two challenges. The whole party cheered the Freshmen on as they ran back and forth between the two points, carrying the cups on their heads for their third challenge. Most of them were tipsy from the shots they had to take, and Derek saw them wobbling slightly as they ran, sloshing liquid down their clothes. The aim was to have the most liquid left in their cups, but it looked like it would be a miracle if they had anything left in them at all. Scott was abysmal at it, and he was already sitting with a couple of others who had dropped their cups on the first few runs. Stiles lasted until the final seven before he too dropped his own cup. He stumbled over to Scott with a big grin on his face though and practically fell into the space Scott had saved beside him. He took his shot, then sought out Derek before giving him a thumbs up like he had after completing the last two challenges. Derek had rolled his eyes both times, but he did return the smile. This time he also shook his head and sent the boy the most sarcastic thumbs up he could, which seemed to please Stiles. It definitely didn’t go unnoticed by his friends, but Derek hoped they were too drunk to remember it come morning.

 

The fourth and final challenge was the worst out of all of them. Charlie and Chuck had the final fifteen from the last one strip down to their boxers and run up the street, singing the school’s chant as loud as they could. After the shot he had just taken, Stiles was definitely drunk, but that hadn’t affected his speed all that much. Derek could tell why he was on the track team. While the rest of the boys were still making their way back, Stiles was already grabbing his jeans to pull back on.

“Oh no, not so fast kid!” Charlie stepped forward and took the jeans out of Stiles’ hand. Derek stepped forward anxiously. This wasn’t part of the plan. Charlie caught the movement and grinned somewhat similarly to how Rebecca had when she’d cornered him by his locker. Stiles frowned.

“I completed all the tasks though?” Charlie shook his head.

“We’ve just come up with a final one just for you,” he slurred, suddenly grabbing one of Stiles’ arms. Chuck stepped forward and grabbed the other, and Max grabbed his legs. Together they shoved their way through the crowd and chucked Stiles straight into the untouched pool, usually out of bounds for parties like these.

 

Derek watched, feet stuck and body frozen, as Stiles hit the surface and sunk down. There was silence apart from the splash and the laughter coming from the three boys who had thrown him. Then people started to laugh along with them, all of them not realising that Stiles still hadn’t come up for air. Derek jumped forward, pushing people out of his way frantically and reached the edge of the pool. He looked over in horror to see Stiles struggling in the deep end, not able to coordinate his limbs enough to pull his body up to the surface. Without thinking Derek dove in. His hands clasped around a flailing arm and he tugged with all his strength. When they broke the surface he heard Stiles sputtering and coughing, trying to take in lungfuls of air.

 

As soon as he was out of the pool and had Stiles safely with Scott, Derek stormed over to the idiots he called friends. They didn’t seem all that concerned, and Derek was furious. He didn’t pause before he swung his fist forward and made contact with Charlie’s face. The boy stumbled backwards.

“What the fuck Hale?!” Derek growled.

“What were you thinking?! He could have died you idiot! Didn’t you even think for _one second_ that throwing a drunk guy in the pool was the most stupid idea ever?! You are a fucking moron!” Derek spat out, ready to hit the guy again. And he would have, if he wasn’t so worried about getting Stiles seen by someone who knew more about first aid than he did. “I’m so done with you Mitchell, so _fucking_ done!” Derek turned away.

“Just because it was your stupid little fuck buddy boyfriend Hale. If it was any other kid you’d be here laughing along with the rest of us!” For the second time in less than a few months, Derek saw red. He spun around and launched himself at Charlie, only this time he didn’t get to pin his victim to the floor and beat the living crap out of them. Andy had grabbed him around the waist and was tugging him back. “Don’t expect any more favours from me Hale! And you can find your own fucking table to sit at from now on!” Derek pushed Andy off him and walked away.

 

Derek approached Stiles again and helped him up. He was weak kneed and not able to support himself completely, so together with a more sober Scott they helped him out of the house and into Derek’s car. “I’m taking him to the hospital, he needs to be looked over. I can drop you home first,” Derek directed at Scott who was in the back seats.

“My mum’s a nurse, she could take a look if you want? It would save time waiting around.” Derek nodded a thanks and followed the directions to Scott’s place. Surprisingly, Stiles was silent the whole trip. After Derek’s last experience with a drunk Stiles, he had expected at least a little chatter from him. But he guessed having a brush with death like that had stunted the boy’s ability to think up a conversation starter.

 

Scott’s house was only a few doors down from Chuck’s, so Derek knew the neighbourhood well. He could see Stiles’ place from the driveway, and he guessed the two would walk to each other’s house regularly. Scott called for his mum as soon as they entered, and she came down the stairs in her dressing gown, looking tired. But as soon as she saw Stiles being supported by Derek she jumped into action, getting him to sit him down on the couch. “What happened?” She asked.

“We were, er.. at a party and someone threw him in the pool and he nearly drowned.” Derek couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Scott’s terrible explanation.

“We had an initiation event tonight where we set up a few challenges for the new members of various sports teams. There was drinking involved, which I take full responsibility and apologise for, and a couple of neanderthals thought it would be a good idea to throw Stiles in the pool without thinking about the consequences. I managed to pull him out in time, but I was going to take him to the hospital to be checked over until Scott suggested that perhaps you could?” Scott’s mum watched him closely, obviously trying to assess what he was to her son and his friend. She then turned back to Stiles and checked everything she needed to. Derek waited, standing stock still, arms folded and an unreadable expression on his face. Scott was sat beside his best friend, worriedly bouncing his leg up and down.

 

“You should be okay Stiles, just make sure you drink a lot of water and get a good nights sleep. Maybe take some tylenol before bed.” Stiles nodded wearily. “How about you stay here tonight sweetie? I’ll tell your dad that you and Scott were gaming or something. I know you will want to tell him about this in your own time.” Scott smiled gratefully at her and jumped up, probably to grab the things his mum had suggested for Stiles. She turned to Derek and raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, I didn’t catch who you are?”

“I’m Derek Hale, I go to school with Scott and Stiles.” She nodded.

“You’re not in their year though.” He shook his head.

“No, I’m a Senior.” He shuffled his feet. “I’m really sorry about this Ms McCall, I shouldn’t have allowed this to happen.” She sighed and shook her head.

“Derek, I know teenagers, and I know these two even better. If they wanted to do this, there was no stopping them. Honestly I’d be surprised if Scott never came home from a party with underage drinking at some point in his High School career. And by the sound of it, what happened here wasn’t your fault.” Derek shrugged, still not able to shake that guilt pumping through his body, replacing the adrenaline and leaving him feeling grimey.

“I should go, I just had to make sure he was okay.” Derek looked over at Stiles who was dozing in his seat, mouth slightly open and head resting on the arm of the couch.

“There’s spare pillows in the linen cupboard. Those two usually crash in here on gaming nights. You can get Scott to set up a bed for you. I’m going back to bed though, it was nice meeting you Derek.” Derek watched Ms McCall make her way back up the stairs as he debating over what to do. He wanted to stay, and he knew his family wasn’t expecting him home that night. But would Scott mind if he did? They weren’t exactly friends. In fact, Derek had no idea if Scott even knew about his and Stiles’ weird friendship thing.

 

He got his answer when Scott returned holding blankets and pillows for all three of them. He placed some on the floor for Derek and then the others on the two couches for him and Stiles. Stiles was only awake enough to drink a glass of water with his tablets and to slip into some spare pajamas that belonged to Scott. He sent Derek a small reassuring smile before drifting off to sleep, wrapped up in the duvet Scott had given him. Scott didn’t say anything to Derek as he too lay down on his couch, and followed Stiles’ lead, filling the room with quiet snores. Derek stepped out of his jeans and pulled his shirt off, folding them and leaving them on the floor by the foot of his makeshift bed so he could put them back on in the morning.

 

He tossed and turned in the bed for half an hour before giving up and crawling over to Stiles’ couch. He sat with his back against it, stretching out his legs and leaning his head back so Stiles’ soft breath would tickle the hairs on the nape of his neck. It only took a few minutes of that to lull him to sleep, thoughts finally drifting away from what had happened that night.

 

School on monday was odd. When Derek got out the car, he wasn’t instantly greeted by a whiny Rebecca or ignorant Charlie. He saw Stiles by his usual bike space, chaining it up and chatting with Scott happily. Derek had woken up on Sunday morning with Stiles’ hand inches from his cheek, the boy still fast asleep. Scott was too, his body half draped off the side of his couch, and Derek was sure he must have fallen off at some point. He’d decided to leave before the two woke up as to avoid any awkward conversations or accusing glares, so he tidied up his unused bed and got dressed silently. Before he left, he had found Stiles’ phone and after a little debate programmed his number in there. He then got Stiles’ number and drafted a text to send all the way home, but never got round to actually sending one.

 

Now, he was staring at the boy wishing he had. He saw Stiles briefly during the day, but Stiles didn’t see him. Or if he did, he was ignoring him because he blamed Derek for what happened, which would make sense. That guilt still hadn’t left him. In fact, it was getting worse as the day dragged on, creeping it’s way through every thought, slowly burning him away from the inside.

 

Derek entered the cafeteria fully intending on just grabbing some food to keep him going and leaving to eat it elsewhere, but he was greeted by Andy almost as soon as he joined the line. “How’s it going man?” Andy asked casually, pulling his money out his pocket.

“I thought I was being shunned?” Andy laughed.

“They’re dicks aren’t they? I’m not sticking around with them anymore.” Derek nodded, impressed with Andy’s individuality. Usually, once someone got on the popular table, they never wanted to leave. “So you gonna come sit with me or have you got other arrangements?” Derek looked over where Andy had indicated and saw Stiles shove a whole handful of curly fries into his mouth while Scott laughed at him and tried to pull the book away from where Stiles was slumped over it. Derek shook his head.

“I’m not sitting with them.”

“Great, c’mon then.” They payed for their food before Andy lead him over to a table near Stiles’ where three people were already sat. Boyd was also on the basketball team, but he was one of the more reserved players who had never chose to sit with them or come to their parties, but he had seemed like a nice guy the few times Derek had interacted with him. Erica was stunning, with honey coloured eyes always dramatically surrounded by black eyeliner and perfectly in shape hair. She used to be unpopular because of her ill health, but after treatment and a surprising makeover, people were, as Stiles would put it, kissing her feet. She ignored them though and chose to stick with her original friends. And then there was Isaac. No one knew much about him, but he seemed nice enough, nicer than the people Derek had previously associated with.

“Hey guys, this is Derek.” They rolled their eyes at Andy.

“Oh, we know who he is Andrew, the question is why is he here?” Erica bit into the apple she was holding, looking up at him skeptically. Derek rarely felt intimidated, but Erica’s stare could do it if she tried.

“He’s cool guys, don’t worry.” Andy sat down on one side of the table and pulled Derek down, placing him beside Isaac.

“So the rumour is Mitchell beat you up and now you aren’t welcome there any more. But going by his broken nose I’m thinking something else happened?”

“Erica!” Isaac hissed, glancing round at Derek who just shrugged. He could guess who had started that rumour.

“He’s a dick, so I punched him.”

“Must have been quite a punch, everyone is staring at you.” Derek snorted.

“Yeah, you could say that.”

 

“Cora told me she spoke to Stiles today.” Derek looked up from his Trig homework at his sister. Laura sat herself down on his bed and closed his text book.

“I was using that,” Derek sighed but he knew she would win.

“This is way more important than your academic studies which will determine whether you get into College or not and possibly shape your future and influence the rest of your life.” Derek put his pen down, ready to humour his sister. He was also very curious to find out how Stiles was doing. He may or may not have been avoiding the boy for the rest of the week, and now the break had begun he felt bad about it. “Why haven’t we seen him around here again if you guys are together?”

“We’re not together Laura.”

“You’ve beaten two guys up for him already, which is quite a lot considering it hasn’t even been a full school year yet and I’m starting to think this kid attracts trouble, and you saved him from drowning in a pool. You literally saved his life Derek and you guys still aren’t together?” He groaned.

“I don’t need you reminding me of my failures Laura, I do enough of that myself.” She snorted.

“Thank goodness, at least you’re actually admitting it now!” He sighed.

“It doesn’t make a difference.”

“Why are you avoiding him? He told Cora that he’s been trying to talk to you for the whole week.”

“I wasn’t, I just.. It was my fault, and he deserves to be angry at me.”

“See that’s your problem Derek, you are so quick to blame yourself that you don’t give other people a chance to come up with their own opinions of the situation.” Derek rubbed his face with both hands then ran his fingers through his hair.

“Why would he want to talk to me though? If my _friends_ ,” he spat the word out, “hadn’t have noticed I talked to the guy then they would have left him alone. He could have completed those dumb challenges and then be left alone.” Laura shook her head and stopped fiddling with the highlighter next to one of his feet.

“That’s not good reasoning Derek and I expected more from you. Those idiots would have done that to one of the kids there because they were _drunk_ and drunk imbeciles will do that sort of thing no matter who it is they’re throwing around.” Derek just sighed and looked back down at his work. “Fine, if I can’t convince you then I’ll just have to get Stiles to do it.” Derek’s head snapped up. Laura grinned evilly, jumping up and heading to the door. “He’ll be here in ten minutes,” she called over her shoulder.

 

Derek barely had enough time to get his room into a semi-presentable state before he heard a knock on his door. Stiles poked his head around, not looking as awkward and uncomfortable as he had the last time he had been there, but still not at home walking into Derek’s bedroom. The boy edged through the doorway and Derek only nodded at him in greeting.

“If you two don’t start talking in the next thirty seconds I will-”

“Okay Laura,” Derek growled at his sister who had obviously been listening in from the other side of the door. Stiles chuckled at that, somewhat nervously, before perching on the end of Derek’s bed.

“So..” Stiles started then trailed off. Derek sighed. Stiles looked worn out. He had dark circles around his eyes and his lips were turned down in an unusual frown, that little dent between his eyes more prominent the longer the silence dragged on. Derek felt a wave of sorrow wash over him as he took it in. A fifteen year old shouldn’t look that weary with life, especially not someone like Stiles who radiated exuberance like a miniature sun on a daily basis. It was his fault Stiles had lost that innocence.

“I’m sorry,” Derek muttered, not even looking over at the teenager. Stiles paused in his constant shifting, his body stilling in the corner of Derek’s eye.

“Why?” He paused. “Wait, you think what happened was _your_ fault? Seriously?” Derek grimaced. “Oh wow, Laura was right, you are an idiot.” Derek, startled, finally looked at Stiles only to give him an incredulous look. Stiles clapped a hand over his own mouth. “Whoa okay forget I just said that, brain to mouth filtering isn’t a strong point of mine, as you know. What I _really_ meant was don’t be stupid Derek, you _saved_ me that night.” Derek shook his head.

“You wouldn’t have needed saving if I had just..”

“Just what? Hidden our _whatever this is_? Picked better friends from the beginning?” Stiles grinned for a minute. “I’m sorry but dude if you could time travel and you chose to change your friendship group instead of doing something actually _cool_ I would have to shun you. Forever.” His face morphed back into it’s sombre expression. “But since you can’t time travel, from what I know anyway, I guess there’s nothing you could have done except what you did which was great by the way, and thank you for saving my life and whatnot, so no need to be downing on yourself all the time man. It’s over, I’m okay, and you’re awesome. End of.” Derek couldn’t help but smile at the anomale beside him. Stiles’ rambles made complete sense when you listened carefully enough.

 

“Why do you do that?” Derek asked, still not able to completely wipe the smile off his face.

“Do what?” Stiles was also smiling, but in that effortless way that made Derek _want_ to smile more, if only to achieve something similarly natural and easy. Stiles’ smiles were always open mouthed and bright eyed, on the verge of laughter half the time, and the other half they were just falling into a crooked grin. Not that Derek had spent a lot of time analyzing Stiles’ smile. And if he had it was only because they were so captivating okay?

“You never refer to us as friends.” Stiles looked stumped for a second and that smile slipped off his face.

“I just- I don’t want to, you know, _assume_ anything or whatever.” Derek watched Stiles stare at his fingers that had become so interesting all of a sudden, then rolled his eyes.

“I’ve called us friends, so you would be _assuming_ the right thing.” Stiles shrugged.

“I guess we’re both idiots then?” He looked up at Derek through his eyelashes, mouth slightly open as it almost always was, and Derek had a sudden urge to just lean forward and press his lips to those parted ones, just to see what it would feel like.

“I guess we are,” he muttered instead.

 

The two spent the rest of the day together, just watching the couple of DVDs Derek had up in his room, and then when they had finished those Stiles had spotted Derek’s games and declared he could thrash him in Need For Speed. Surprisingly, the only time Laura interrupted them was when she announced their mum had invited Stiles to stay for tea and there would be no debate about it. Stiles had accepted his fate and followed Derek down the stairs and towards the Hales’ abnormally large dining room. All the rooms in the Hale house looked like they belonged in an old English mansion, wood panels and all. But the dining room was the most impressive. The long mahogany table stretched the length of the room and could easily fit twelve people around it. At the far end of the room was a cabinet that contained all of his mother’s most prized crockery, all lined up behind the glass doors on display. Derek watched as Stiles gazed at everything around him, seeming not to notice the rest of his family who were all seated already.

 

Stiles stopped in the doorway when everyone turned their eyes on him. Derek scowled at them all grumpily when he saw them eyeing the boy up and down. “Derek, how about you actually introduce Stiles and show him to his seat?” His mother suggested with a firm look which left no room for arguments. Derek sighed and shot Stiles an apologetic look before turning back to the table to point everyone out.

“Stiles, this is my family. You obviously know my parents and my sisters. And you’ve met Peter, my uncle,” Derek said awkwardly and gestured to a smirking Peter who was sat next to Cora. “This is my grandmother and my Aunt Nora and my dad’s brother Uncle Owen, and the two boys are my cousins Oliver and Sean.” Derek pointed them out to Stiles and they all smiled warmly at him. He even got shy waves from his cousins.

“Hey Derek, I saved you two seats here,” Laura called happily and his scowl was back in place when he saw they were right in the middle of the table, one next to her and one opposite, in between Oliver and Cora. Not willing to put Stiles through a whole meal next to his evil older sister, Derek took that seat and let Stiles sit in the safer one. He seemed to relax a little when Cora gave him an encouraging smile and mentioned something about school, which in turn made Derek relax too. He got a strange feeling that this situation was very similar to the one Laura’s previous boyfriend had been put in. He hoped his family didn’t think he and Stiles were actually together or anything like that, but knowing them they would jump to that conclusion.

 

As soon as the food was brought to the table, everyone dived in. Derek watched Stiles from the corner of his eye, making sure he had actually got some food before his family scoffed the lot. But, his family seemed too busy secretly watching Stiles too to actually put any real effort into wiping the dishes clean. Stiles ate relatively quietly, occasionally talking with Cora if she asked questions or made a comment to him. It worried Derek that he wasn’t talking much, considering how much Stiles usually loved to run his mouth. Since Derek was one of many watching Stiles, he wasn’t the only one to notice the boy put his cutlery down suddenly and turn to Oliver beside him. The younger boy was frowning in deep concentration as he tried to hold his chicken down and get the meat off the bone. He was almost about to give up when Stiles leant in and offered to help him out. Casting a nervous look up, Oliver, to everyone’s surprise, actually agreed and passed his knife and fork over to Stiles. Derek watched in amazement as Stiles helped the younger boy with a soft smile on his face, and Oliver actually smiled back once Stiles was done. He even muttered a small “thanks” when he took back his cutlery. Nora nudged her husband with a huge smile on her face and then looked over at Derek. Stiles, completely unaware at the looks being shared across the table by all the adults, just went back to eating again.

 

“Stiles,” his dad says across the table once everyone had finished eating. Derek looked up at him the same time Stiles did. “Derek tells me you like to read.” Derek flushed a deep red. He only knew that because he had caught sight of the huge pile of books in Stiles’ locker and how the boy always had a new one in his backpack each week.

“He did?” Stiles shot a confused look over at Derek but he refused to look over and meet the boy’s gaze. Stiles turned back to his dad. “I guess I do, yes. My.. mum used to always get me new books to read.” Ian nodded understandingly but not commenting on Stiles’ slight stumble over the mention of his mum.

“So what’s your favourite genre?” Stiles frowned for a minute and Derek’s eyes were drawn to the dent between his eyebrows.

“Anything historical I think. And not just historical fiction books,” he added. “I love researching, so I always find myself reading biographies and accounts and things like that.” Derek switched his gaze over to his father who was nodding, obviously impressed by Stiles’ answer.

“Well, we have an excellent library here with a whole section devoted to Beacon Hills history books if you’re ever interested. I could get Derek to show you after we’ve finished here if you’d like?” Stiles nodded vigorously at that, always keen to get his hands on new knowledge.

 

The desert conversation was much more relaxed, as his family had decided to stop staring at Stiles as much and actually engage in their own conversations more. Derek was deep in a discussion with his aunt Nora but he kept an eye on Stiles conversing calmly with his grandmother. She seemed to be quizzing him about his family history, but Stiles didn’t look uncomfortable so Derek let them be. Finally, they were all finished and Talia put Laura and Peter on cleanup duty. Laura had complained that it was Derek’s turn, but Talia had shot her down, saying Derek had to show Stiles the library instead. The two boys got up from the table, Stiles thanking them profusely while Derek merely rolled his eyes and shoved the other boy out the room. He was about to take him down the corridor when Derek felt a hand on his shoulder.

“We’ll just be a second Stiles,” his grandmother’s voice came from behind him. Derek turned to her and she pulled him aside and smiled, her usually controlled expression happy.

“What is it Nana?”

“I like him,” she said bluntly.

“So do a lot of people Nana,” Derek rolled his eyes and she smacked him over the head for his sass.

“You need to ask him on a date before I die of old age young man.”

“But Nana, I can’t. He’s only just 15.” She shook her head at him.

“Your grandfather was that age when he asked me, and I was almost 18.”

“You turned him down Nana, you tell us it took him years to convince you.” She laughed.

“Yes, well, you better get started then if you think it will take you that long.” She patted his cheek then walked briskly away, leaving Derek gaping after her. He shook his head then turned back to Stiles who was gazing at some of the family photos on the wall. Derek approached quietly but Stiles seemed to sense he was there.

 

“I like this one of you, I’ve only ever seen your eyes like that twice.” Derek looked up at the photo of himself and Cora engaged in a tickle fight on one of the couches in the playroom they had when they were younger. Derek smiled slightly at it then looked over at Stiles who was looking at him.

“Only twice?” Stiles shrugged with a small smile of his own.

“Yeah. The first was when we were on the bleachers, after your party and that Rebecca girl was a total bitch. I think I said something like she wasn't good enough for you and you found it funny.” Derek nodded, surprised the boy remembered that. He thought he was the only one who did.

“And the second?” Stiles looked away.

“Earlier today, in your room. I think it was the only time you had beaten me on a race.” Derek shook his head and told Stiles how much of a lie that was since he was great at that game, but he felt a fluttering in his stomach he couldn’t push away.

“You know I’m right.” Stiles grinned. “So are you going to show me this library or not?”

 

Stiles finally left when he got a call from the Sheriff wondering why he wasn’t home already. As soon as Derek got back from dropping him off, his family tried to hold him down and quiz him about Stiles, but he managed to slip out of their grasps and up to his room. Derek lay down on his bed, looking up at the pale cream ceiling with a small smile playing at his lips. He was too tired to bother trying to hide it, nor could he ignore the flutters in his stomach for much longer. He couldn’t ignore the fact that _Stiles_ had given him those. _Stiles_ , the annoying, complicated, completely frustrating kid had made him feel more giddy than he had ever before. Quickly stripping out of his clothes, he tugged his covers over himself and closed his eyes. He thought it would take a while to sleep, after his new revelations and all, but obviously even working out he might be slightly in love with Stiles couldn’t keep him from slumber.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Stiles did not sleep well that night. He tossed and turned, never able to get comfortable until finally, at around three, he simply gave up and wandered downstairs to get a glass of water. He sat down at the kitchen table and sighed deeply, wondering how his life had come to this moment. A few months ago he barely thought about Derek Hale, save from the times he saw the other boy around town and thought the guy was extremely attractive, but apart from those fleeting moments he rarely made it onto Stiles’ radar. Of course, he had known of the Hale family for his whole life. They were friends with his parents after all, but after his mother had passed away his father lost all contact with them. Now though, it was Derek Hale who was invading his every thought, taking up all of Stiles’ time when he should have just been concentrating on _anything_ else. He should not be obsessing over a 17 year old. Especially a 17 year old who was way too cool to even be considering being Stiles’ friend. He had no idea how he had managed to pull that one off, but somehow Stiles had managed to convince Derek that he was actually decent enough to be friends with. _Who knows_ how he did it.

 

Stiles took another sip of his water. Now he had spent time with Derek, actually had conversations with him, Stiles found the guy to be entirely not what he expected. He thought Derek would be the typical high school jock, but he was far from it. Derek actually had some intelligence, and he was kind, and he cared about his family. Stiles only needed to see the way Derek interacted with his younger cousins to know that he was probably the best person Stiles had ever met. And then there was the times when Derek let his guard down enough to smile, or _laugh_. Derek’s laugh was Stiles’ new favourite sound. When the older boy had tipped his head back and let out an unrestrained guffaw at something Stiles had said, Stiles knew he was done for. He was completely under the spell of Derek Hale.

 

He knew he shouldn’t, that Derek was probably bored of him already, but after Stiles had drifted off to sleep on the couch in the early hours of the morning and woken up not much later, he got out his phone and sent a quick ‘are you awake’ text. Surprisingly, instead of a reply, he got a call from Derek within a few minutes.

“Are you okay?” Derek asked as soon as he picked up.

“Er, yeah, I’m fine.” Stiles paused and checked the clock on the mantlepiece. “Sorry, I didn’t realise it was so early. I can-” Derek cut him off.

“No, don’t worry about it,” he said.

“Cool.” There was silence on both ends for a few seconds. “So, I was thinking,” Stiles started.

“That always ends well.” He snorted at Derek’s comment but continued as if he hadn’t interrupted.

“I was thinking, since we’re friends and everything, and I’m not really doing anything today, do you..wanna come round maybe?” He waited with baited breath for Derek to answer. It took the other boy what felt like hours, but finally Derek said,

“sure, what do you wanna do?” Grinning, Stiles suggested they try out some of his games and maybe a movie or something, then when Derek agreed to that, he added they should maybe wait until the Sheriff had gone to avoid any sort of questioning.

 

Stiles was a nervous wreck for the rest of the morning. He had hoped to get a few more hours sleep in, but now his body was fully awake, almost humming in anticipation. He kept trying to remind himself _this is not a date this is not a date_ but there was no use, his heart was still beating wildly by the time Derek knocked on the front door. When he opened it, he didn't get a chance to look over Derek before the guy pushed past him and closed the door quickly.

“Whoa, what’s up with you?” Stiles asked.

“It’s freezing out there Stiles, how long were you going to make me wait?” That was when Stiles noticed the water dripping down Derek’s jacket and in his hair.

“I didn’t realise it was raining,” he said as he offered to hang Derek’s jacket up on their coat hooks. Derek rolled his eyes.

“Have you not looked out your window today?” He shook his head. “It’s not that bad actually, though I’m guessing it’ll get worse.”

“If it’s not that bad, then how come you’re so,” Stiles reached up and patted Derek’s spiky hair. “Damp.” He froze suddenly when he realised what he was doing. They were close, and Derek was watching him with an unreadable expression. Stiles retracted his hand swiftly and cleared his throat to cover up his sudden embarrassment.

“I- er- I parked down the street, incase your dad was still around.”

“Oh. Well, sorry dude, I guess I should have text you when he had left, my bad.” Stiles gave Derek an apologetic smile which caused a smirk to develop on Derek’s face. Before Stiles could dodge away, the older boy leant down and shook his head like a wet dog, spraying water droplets everywhere, most managing to find their way onto Stiles’ face.

“What the hell man?!” he cried but laughed when he saw the playful expression in Derek’s eyes.

“What?” Derek asked innocently. “I had to get you back somehow.”

“Whatever,” Stiles rolled his eyes. “Are you going to come and get annihilated in another game or not?

 

“Get out of the way! That was my box!” Stiles cried indignantly, furiously pressing the buttons on his controller while Derek chuckled beside him. “Nope! No way are you beating me this time Waluigi,” he growled out just as Derek zoomed past his Yoshi character. When Stiles hit a rogue green shell, Derek laughed again.

“Who even gets hit by those anyway?” he said happily as he crossed the finish line in first place yet again. Stiles completed his lap and threw his hands up in defeat as his character Yoshi came in 7th. He glared at the boy beside him.

“Yeah, well who even chooses Waluigi as their character?” Stiles snarked back, going back to the main menu and choosing the next race.

“No need to get all defensive just because we’ve beaten you four times now.” Stiles rolled his eyes as Derek shot him a shit eating grin. He was irritated, but he couldn’t help the smile that found it's way onto his mouth in response. It was nice seeing Derek so relaxed for once.

“I still think you’ve been cheating. There is no way you are so good at this but so bad at basically every other racing game _both_ of us own.”

“Maybe you just suck at this game?” Stiles sucked in a horrified gasp, dramatically holding a hand to his chest and giving Derek a wounded look.

“How could you insult my awesome gaming skills like that?!” Derek snorted.

“It’s Mario Kart, I don’t think it counts towards your gaming skills.” Rolling his eyes, Stiles turned back to the tv.

“Okay, which track do you want?” He saw Derek about to say something and cut him off. “And don’t say rainbow road again because I will actually murder you.” Derek exaggerated a sigh but picked another track so they could get on with the race.

 

Just as they were about to start though, all the power suddenly cut out, leaving the two boys in total darkness. Stiles looked over at Derek and the older boy shrugged. “I guess you won’t get your chance to beat me now,” he said and Stiles shot him a withering look.

“I think I liked it better when you didn’t know the meaning of the word joke.” Derek raised his eyebrows.

“Really? Well I’m sure I liked it better when you spoke a lot less.” He was joking. Stiles knew he was just from the glint in his eye which was totally ruining the serious look Derek was trying to achieve.

“Give me a break dude, I was mildly terrified of you at the beginning of the year, especially when you practically _growled_ at me after I crashed into you on the first day.” Stiles couldn’t see Derek’s expression until a flash of lightning threw his face into focus for a few seconds. His eyes were suddenly a bright blue, more intense than Stiles had ever seen before; but it was gone almost as quickly as it had come, a low rumbling following soon after. The noise made Stiles twitch, memories streaking in front of his eyes.

“Afraid of the big bad wolf?” Derek asked lowly, voice dropping to just above a whisper. A shudder involuntarily ran down Stiles’ spine.

“I- er-” he stuttered. All of a sudden there was a crash heard from the hall, causing Stiles to jump so violently he ended up knocking into Derek, making both of them topple over.

 

That was how his dad found them; Stiles scared shitless and sprawled out on top of Derek on the floor by the couch, both looking up at him with wide eyes. His heart was still going wild as Stiles picked himself up off the floor quickly, offering a hand to Derek too.

“Jeez dad, you scared the crap out of me!” The Sheriff eyed them warily.

“What’s going on here?” He asked, mainly aiming it at a shocked looking Derek, but Stiles jumped in.

“I told you dad, you made me jump so I fell right into Derek.” When it looked like he didn’t believe the story, Stiles added, “you know how I get in thunderstorms dad.” That made the disapproving look soften slightly, as Stiles knew it would. His dad knew storms reminded him of when his mother died, since it had been a pretty bad one that night. Whenever he got panic attacks, it would usually be during a storm.

“That doesn’t explain what _you_ are doing here though.” The Sheriff gestured to Derek who had finally schooled his features enough to get rid of the deer in the headlights look. Again, Stiles cut in before Derek could answer.

“We’re friends dad. I invited him over so we could play video games and stuff. Is that not allowed?” His dad frowned but accompanied it with a sigh.

“How did you get here Derek?”

“I drove Sir, my car is parked down the street.” The Sheriff finally relaxed enough to shrug off his wet coat and go hang it next to Derek’s leather jacket.

“I wouldn’t try and get home any time soon,” he said when he returned to the sitting room where the two teenagers hadn’t moved. He was carrying a couple of candles they kept in case of emergencies. “The roads are terrible and it looks like there will definitely be some trees down or something.” Derek nodded then got his phone out; probably to let his parents know, Stiles assumed.

“How about you two make yourselves useful since you can’t play your games anymore and go down to the basement to get the lanterns and stuff?” Recognising an order when its given, Stiles mock saluted his father then grabbed Derek’s arm and tugged him out of the room.

 

It was decided that Derek would spend the night when the Sheriff had tuned in to his police scanner and heard about all the problems they were having on the roads. They set up some stuff on the couch for him, but Stiles claimed they would watch a movie on his laptop in his room before they went to bed. After a long stern look, the Sheriff let the two go, claiming he was tired and would be heading up to bed soon. Up in Stiles’ room, the two situated themselves on his bed, leaving an awkward gap between them after Stiles had set up his laptop. They watched the movie in silence, though Stiles spent more of the time flinching each time the lighting cracked the sky in two and the thunder rumbled ominously.

 

After half an hour of this, Stiles heard Derek sigh loudly and saw him shuffle around from the corner of his eye. He looked over in confusing when he saw the other boy lift his arm up and stare at him expectantly. “Well, come on then,” Derek said, gesturing to his now open arm. Stiles just stared at it. Rolling his eyes, Derek leant over, wrapped his arm around Stiles’ shoulders, and pulled him in so they were pressed together. He pulled the covers up over their knees and let Stiles relax in his arms slowly.

“My mum always says that physical contact can help,” Derek answered Stiles’ silent question. Gradually, Stiles felt his racing heart steady and he found himself melting into Derek’s warm embrace until finally his head was resting on his shoulder and his hands were pressed into Derek’s side, just above his hip. Stiles didn’t mean to drift off, but cocooned in Derek’s space heater qualities with his slow breathing ghosting over his temple, he found his eyelids drooping.

 

Stiles was warm. Actually, he was way too warm, almost sweating from the heat surrounding him. His duvet was wrapped too tightly around his legs, leaving them unable to flail and be free. Still way too sleepy to give it much thought though, he half heartedly tried to wriggle free of his squishy captor, bound tightly against his chest. If he was more awake, he’d probably realise that the weight against his chest was radiating heat more than any normal blanket should, and was definitely moving more than an inanimate object should. Stiles started at the grunt he heard from behind him, and wriggled more purposefully so he could see what was going on. The more he moved though, the tighter the blanket- _arm_ got, it was an arm wrapped around his chest, not his duvet. Suddenly, there were heated lips being pressed to the back of his neck as the other person mumbled against his skin.

“Too early.. sleep more..” Derek groaned and tightened his grip on Stiles, burying his face in his neck. Stiles froze. His whole body went slack in Derek’s grip. He felt it, when Derek finally started to realise what was going on. Stiles felt his whole body stiffen behind him and he closed his eyes, trying to prevent the inevitable freak out Derek would probably have any second.

 

He waited. Yet nothing happened. The tension started to seep out of both their bodies the longer they lay there, Derek’s grip loosening enough to let Stiles shuffle around to face the other boy. They stared at each other in silence, and Stiles took the time to inspect Derek’s face more closely. He had light stubble starting to appear along his jaw, but his sleepy eyes and ruffled bed hair ruined the edgy look he could have achieved with it. In turn Stiles saw Derek’s eyes sweep over his own face, pausing at different features until they settled on his slightly parted lips.

“I-” Derek swallowed and licked his lips nervously. Stiles saw his adam’s apple bob as Derek steeled himself. Unconsciously Stiles leaned forward an inch so he could feel Derek’s careful pants of air on his cheeks. “I want to-” Derek paused again but Stiles nodded. Whatever Derek wanted he could have. He hoped his expression was saying that. It seemed to work, because then Derek was leaning in and brushing his lips against Stiles’. Slowly, Stiles pressed into the kiss, letting his eyes flutter shut. Derek inhaled sharply when Stiles’ mouth crept open, running a cautious tongue across Derek’s bottom lip. The hand that Derek had dropped from Stiles’ chest now slipped up to his waist, brushing his exposed hipbone where his shirt had risen up.

 

They pulled apart when Stiles needed to take a gulp of air. Derek stared at him with wide eyes.

“I’m sorry, I should..” He got up without finishing his sentence, and almost made it to Stiles’ bedroom door. Almost.

“Don’t you dare walk out that door Derek Hale,” Stiles snapped, sitting up and kicking the blankets off his legs so he could stand up too. Derek paused with his hand already on the door handle.

“Stiles, I shouldn’t-” Stiles huffed angrily.

“Look, if you think that was a mistake, and you wished you hadn’t done it, then say that to my face and I’ll let you walk out of here without another word.” Stiles tensed, waiting for Derek to turn and do just that, but he didn’t. He stood facing the door, shoulders slumped in defeat. Then, Derek turned with his eyes lowered to the floor.

“I don’t regret it Stiles,” he muttered.

“Then why the hell won’t you look at me?” Stiles shot back, voice sounding irritated so it wouldn’t waver from his anticipation at the inevitable rejection he was about to receive. When Derek’s eyes met his they were wide and open, almost as vulnerable as Stiles felt in that moment.

“I can’t-” Derek huffed. “I’m not _good_ at this Stiles. I don’t want to mess up anything, because I _like_ you. I like spending time with you, and if I ruin this then I won’t get to do that anymore.” Stiles literally felt his jaw drop. It caused a hint of a blush to blossom across Derek’s cheeks. “Don’t look at me like that, everyone else could tell how I felt, my sister guessed it months ago.”

“ _Months_?!” Stiles squeaked, his own cheeks reddening. “You mean you’ve liked me for months and I- while I’ve been here just- _you_?!” He stuttered, too shocked to even put together a real sentence. Derek ran a hand through his hair awkwardly and nodded.

“Well, yeah. I just thought, yeah, I thought you didn’t- don’t- feel the same way so I just-” He couldn’t finish what he was saying because Stiles had already leapt forward and crashed their mouths together. It was more frantic than their first kiss, more teeth and tongue than actual lips being involved. They pulled away breathless and Stiles laughed.  
“We’re definitely both idiots.”

 

“Are you asking me out on a date?” Stiles knew he was being a little shit, but he couldn’t help it when it made Derek pull _that_ expression; the one where his face gets all pinched up and his eyebrows furrow like he’s concentrating too hard.

“Yes,” he growled and Stiles chuckled, holding up his hands.

“Okay, no need to get all grouchy.” Stiles grinned. “I’ll go on a date with you, as long as I get to pick the movie.” Derek let out a stoic sigh but agreed, and Stiles caught the little smile he had. It made Stiles’ heart warm and his head spin a little at how lucky he had gotten. The two wandered to the front door and Stiles picked up Derek’s leather jacket from it’s hook. Handing it over, he watched as Derek unlocked the front door and stepped outside. It had stopped raining, but there was a trail of destruction the storm had left. One of Stiles’ neighbour’s trees was down, and their own front yard had branches and detritus littering the path. Derek scuffed his feet on the front porch and ruffled his hair, a habit Stiles had worked out only occurred when he was feeling awkward or nervous. Before he could comment on it, Derek leaned forward and pressed a hasty kiss to Stiles’ lips then turned and strode away down the path. Stiles grinned dopily and watched him go, yelling a quick “be careful!” when he remembered Derek would need to drive on the debris-covered roads.

 

Stiles wasted no time to call Scott. His best friend picked up on the third ring. “Scott!” Stiles cried down the phone. “I have big news, you need to get over here as soon as possible!” Scott grunted.

“Stiles, I’m still in bed. Can’t you just tell me over the phone?” Stiles groaned and flopped down onto the couch Derek never made it to last night. He briefly wondered if his dad had noticed when he’d left that morning.

“Scott! It’s spring break, we need to spend as much time as possible chilling before school starts again!”

“Exactly!” Scott whined. “I need to spend as much time as possible _in my bed_ , because sleeping is the best thing ever.” Stiles sighed.

“Fine, then I guess I won’t tell you about how Derek Hale just asked me out. Enjoy your sleep Scotty boy!” He didn’t hang up and he heard shuffling the other end of the line.

“Derek did _what_?! Okay, okay. I’ll be over in five.” Stiles fist pumped the air when his friend hung up and wandered happily into the kitchen to get some breakfast started.

 

He and Scott ate the eggs on toast on their laps in front of the TV where they had an episode of Phineas and Ferb playing in the background. “So he just.. asked you?” Stiles shook his head and took another bite of his toast.

“He came round yesterday before the power cut out so we could play some games and stuff. Then, when it did go, my dad turned up and said Derek should stay the night since the roads were too bad to drive on.”

“And your dad was cool with that? Letting Derek stay I mean?” Stiles shrugged.

“Yeah, he was. I mean, obviously he didn’t realise we were.. you know, _into_ each other, but he said Derek could sleep on the couch.” Scott frowned.

“I don’t get how this all turned into him asking you out.”

“We went up to my room to watch a movie, and I guess I sort of freaked out because of the storm, so he kind of comforted me? And we must have fallen asleep because I woke up this morning being used as the little spoon in some sort of blast furnace of a cuddle situation.” Scott snorted at that, making some of the egg in his mouth fall back onto his plate.  
“Gross,” Stiles said with a grin. “Anyway, so then he kissed me and tried to run away so we talked about feelings and shit then made out some more.” Scott grimaced at the last part but Stiles ignored it. “Hey, Derek said something about how everyone already knew how he felt. That’s not true right? I mean, it wasn’t that obvious?” Scott shook his head but he was honestly the worst liar in the world. Stiles groaned. “What the hell man, why didn’t you tell me?!”

“I thought you already knew!” Scott shrugged. “It was sort of obvious, after he got all concerned about Ryan. I’m sorry about that, I wish I had known,” Scott added but Stiles waved him off.

“I should have told you. But what do you mean Derek got all concerned? I mean, he punched him but-”

“He called me, dude, as soon as you got that black eye he somehow got my number and was quizzing me about how it happened.”

“Are you- Seriously? How come you never told me _any_ of this buddy?” Scott did answer but Stiles was too distracted to really hear it. He slipped his phone out of his pocket and sent a text to Derek.

 

From: Stiles [09:51]

> You phoned Scott about my black eye?

 

He didn’t get a reply straight away. In fact, it took Derek almost an hour to answer. He and Scott had switched channels and were now starting a Doctor Who marathon which was on.

 

From: Derek [10:43]

> What are you talking about?

From: Stiles [10:44]

> When Ryan hit me, Scott said you called him about it..?

From: Derek [10:57]

> I might have.

 

Stiles grinned at his phone, ignoring the way Scott rolled his eyes at him.

 

From: Stiles [10:59]

> I didn’t know you cared so much ;)

From: Derek [11:03]

> I was concerned, don’t read too much into it

From: Stiles [11:06]

> Wouldn’t dream of it sourwolf

From: Derek [11:10]

> Sourwolf..?

From: Stiles [11:13]

> Yeah, because you growl a lot like a wolf, thought it worked better than sourpuss :)

From: Derek [11:14]

> If you ever call me that outloud Stiles I swear to god..

 

“Do you want me to leave you two alone?” Scott asked sarcastically when Stiles let out a laugh at Derek’s text. He glanced up at his friend and smiled guiltily.

“Sorry buddy, I’ll tell him to leave us alone during bro time.”

 

From: Stiles [11:17]

> Scott’s getting jealous and wants you to leave us alone during bro time :(

From: Derek [11:18]

> Tell Scott that I don’t particularly care what he wants :|

From: Stiles [11:20]

> Don’t be mean. I’ll speak to you later sourwolf, don’t miss me too much xxxxxx

 

He put the kisses at the end sarcastically to cover up the fact he felt too scared to just put one incase Derek didn’t like it. He didn’t need to worry though, since Derek’s reply made his heart thump erratically.

 

From: Derek [11:25]

> I will x

 

“Okay Scott, I’m all yours!” Stiles declared loudly. “Now what should we do?”

 

Stiles had thought he was nervous when Derek was just coming over to play video games. That was nothing compared to how he felt now, waiting anxiously for their date. At least last time he didn’t have his dad looming in the corner, hovering near his gun just incase he would need it to threaten Derek with. It had been hard trying to convince him to even let them go out, so Stiles guessed he should be grateful that looming was all his dad was doing. Stiles had spent an hour trying to pick an outfit which didn’t scream ‘hey look I’m a teenage kid who doesn’t know how to dress himself’ but it seemed like that was all he owned. He decided that as soon as he could, he would head to the mall and purchase some actual decent clothes incase there were more dates after this one, if he didn’t manage to mess up somehow and make Derek never want to spend another minute with him. Stiles was starting to think that was a high possibility.

 

Stiles nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the knock on the front door. Racing forward so his dad wouldn’t beat him to it, he opened it slightly out of breath. Derek was dressed in a pair of black jeans and an open neck grey shirt with his usual leather jacket on top. Seeing how good Derek looked with just a simple outfit made Stiles glad he had gone with just his jeans and a dark blue henley and lost the plaid shirt he was going to wear over it. They were just staring at each other until the Sheriff cleared his throat loudly behind Stiles. Derek seemed to straighten his back when he noticed the Sheriff was there.

“Evening Sir,” he said and Stiles was pretty sure his knees just went weak. Damn Derek and his sexy voice to the depths of hell.

“Derek,” the Sheriff replied. Derek turned back to Stiles.

“Laura thought I was supposed to bring something, but I didn’t think you’d like flowers so I got you these.” He held out a box of jelly beans and Stiles took them with a grin. “You mentioned you liked them once.” Derek went to run a hand through his hair but, remembering the gel, rubbed his neck instead.

“Thanks Derek. I- erm- I’ll just grab my jacket and we can go.” Stiles knew his dad would give Derek a ‘talk’ as soon as he was gone, but he couldn’t see any way out of it.

 

Stiles grabbed his jacket quickly and slipped past his father who was giving Derek a stern look while Derek stared straight back, his gaze unwavering and confident. It made Stiles smile. “Right, we’re going. See you later dad!”

“Back by 11!” He called after them and Stiles just waved vaguely over his shoulder to show that he’d heard his father.

 

“Come on, just let me pay for the popcorn!” Derek rolled his eyes and shook his head at Stiles, who in turn huffed at his stubborness.

“I asked you Stiles, that means I pay.” Stiles huffed again. “You can pay next time,” Derek added flippantly. Stiles lost his frown at that.

“You want to go on another date?” Derek raised his eyebrows.

“Well, yes. That’s what people do, when they’re dating. They go on multiple dates.” Stiles ignored his sarcastic tone and grinned.

“Cool.” They were nearly at the counter to buy their tickets, so Stiles looked up at the screen with all the movies on and scanned down the list. “So what do you want to watch?” He asked.

“I thought you were choosing?” Derek countered with a smile of his own. Stiles shrugged.

“Fine, how are you with zombie gore?”

 

They spent nearly the whole movie just laughing at the terrible CGI and complete lack of storyline. About half way through, Derek had slipped his hand into Stiles’ one which had been resting upwards on the armrest between them and Stiles had grinned so wide it nearly split his face in two. There was no cliche making out during the movie, but Stiles guessed they should have sat further back if that’s what he wanted to happen. He did, however, flick a few pieces of popcorn into the hair of the couple in front of them whenever they got too loud. Derek shot him an unimpressed look each time, but he didn’t try to stop him.

 

By the time it was over, they still had a couple of hours before Stiles’ curfew, so Stiles grabbed Derek’s hand and tugged him to his favourite coffee shop nearby. It was dark out, and colder than when they left the house, so he pulled his jacket closer to his body and wrapped his arms around himself. Derek didn’t seem as affected, and when he noticed the way Stiles’ teeth had started to chatter, he hesitantly wrapped an arm around his shoulders so they could walk with their bodies pressed closely together. It made Stiles’ stomach flutter like a freaking romance novel character.

“You like brownies right?” Stiles asked Derek as they entered the cafe. It wasn’t full, but he could only spot a few seats free. Derek nodded. “Good, because I don’t think we could ever hang out again if you said no. And wouldn't that suck for you?" He meant it as just a sarcastic comment, slightly self-deprecating, but when Stiles looked over at Derek he was giving him a meaningful look.

"Yeah, I guess it would."

 

“Hi there,” the barrister snapped Stiles out of his gaze and he turned to order their two brownies and coffee.

“How do you want it?” Stiles shot over his shoulder when the girl behind the counter asked. Derek smirked.

“Black, like my soul.” Stiles couldn’t help but snort, and he turned to make sure the girl had caught that. She was trying not to giggle, and failing miserably, while she jotted it down on one of the cups.

“Okay, one Latte macchiato and one soulless Americano coming right up.” Stiles grinned over at Derek who rolled his eyes but did shoot the girl a smile before she rang it up on the till. Stiles paid, and Derek let him with a simple smile.

 

“I don’t know how you drink that,” Stiles pointed out casually as they wandered down the street at a leisurely pace, neither keen to rush home.

“What’s wrong with my coffee?” Derek asked, looking down into the cup like it would hold the answer to Stiles’ mildly disgusted tone.

“It’s nothing _wrong_ , I just can’t deal with it being that strong. I was wondering if you had a tongue of steel or something.” He paused. Derek smirked so wide it could almost be called a leer. “Okay, that came out wrong, shut up,” Stiles snapped as his cheeks flared.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“What I _meant_ , was you have strong taste buds. But thinking that over, it doesn’t really make sense. You’d have to have really dull taste buds..” He frowned. “Just forget I said anything.” Derek laughed, one of those ones that was all open and disarming and made Stiles pause just to appreciate it, and then nudged Stiles’ shoulder with his own.

 

“Derek?” The two turned at the female’s voice. “I thought I recognised you!” She was tall, more legs than body to be honest, with long chocolate brown hair falling almost to her elbows. Her smile was large as she took in the two standing there. Then she leant forward and wrapped her arms around Derek. He seemed shocked to see her, but not displeased, so hugged her back in a way that only Derek could make look slightly awkward. Stiles got a sudden wave of perfume wash over him and it made him want to cough. Going by her make up and ridiculously short skirt, she looked like she was heading out somewhere.

“Hey Leigh, what are you doing back here?” She had backed away again after the hug, and stood with her legs crossed which only enhanced them somehow.

“Oh, you know. Thought I’d visit a few people, hit up a couple of parties, let everyone know there is hope beyond these city boundaries.” Derek laughed at that, though Stiles was pleased to note it wasn’t the same as the one before, the one he was from now on referring to as _his_ laugh, even if technically that was stupid.

“So how is San Francisco?” Derek sounded genuinely interested, and it made Stiles wonder how he knew this girl. He didn’t mean to slurp his coffee, but the noise caught Leigh’s attention.

“We’re being extremely rude,” she said to Derek with a light chuckle.

“Yeah, sorry. Stiles, this is Leigh. I knew her back in Middle School. Leigh, this is Stiles, my- er.."

"Friend. I'm his friend." Derek got all frowny, face pinched up in a way Stiles knew meant he would be extra surly. She nods and gives him a warm smile. After exchanging a few words, Stiles felt bad for judging her so quickly. She actually seemed pretty decent. Derek doesn't say much else to Leigh before she leaves, telling him she’ll text so they could catch up at some point. The two boys continued to walk back to where they had parked the Camaro.

 

"She seemed nice," Stiles commented, trying to get the expression to leave Derek's face. Derek ignored the comment.

"Why did you say we were friends?" Stiles' heart stopped.

"Erm, because you said we were.. Like, just the other day.." The frown got worse.

"But that was before I asked you on a date." Stiles' eyebrows furrowed to match Derek's.

"Well, I didn't think you'd want people to know.." Derek still didn't get it, was still looking at Stiles with a mixture of confusion and was that hurt? "Derek, I don't think you- I just thought you wouldn't want everyone around town- _in school_ \- to know that we we're together or whatever. I mean, I'm just some stupid freshmen kid and you're.. well, _you_." Before Stiles realised what was going on, Derek had pulled him to a stop and crowded him against a wall. His face was an inch from Stiles, eyes dark and intense. Stiles stared with his own eyes wide.

"Listen," Derek said, his voice barely above a whisper, all deep and growly which made Stiles' knees weak. "You aren't stupid, and I'm not that special. In fact, there are so many ways I don't deserve you." He paused to press his mouth to Stiles' jaw. "So I want _everyone_ to know we're together," he pressed a line of kisses all the way up to Stiles' ear as he spoke. "Want everyone to know you're mine," he whispered into his ear and trailed his lips up the shell of Stiles' ear. Stiles whimpered. He needed Derek's lips on his, now. So he wrapped his arms around Derek's neck and buried his hands in his hair so he could tug his mouth down to meet his. Derek groaned when their bodies pressed together and he carefully pulled away.

“We should stop,” he muttered. Stiles could only nod while he caught his breath.

“Dad will probably shoot you if we’re late,” he finally managed, and Derek honestly looked a little bit worried at that possible outcome. Leaning in and pressing one last lingering kiss on Stiles’ lips, he stepped away and offered a hand to help Stiles stand straight again. When he didn’t let go after they started to walk again, Stiles smiled to himself and squeezed gently. Derek squeezed back.

 

“My mum is threatening to take me to work with her today as punishment for not doing the laundry yesterday,” Scott said down the phone, obviously looking for a sympathetic reply. Stiles gave the best groans he could for the situation.

“That sucks buddy.” Scott hummed.

“Yeah, but I bet I could get out of it if I said you’d invited me round already!” Stiles sighed.

“Oh.. see, about that..” he heard Scott start to whine even before he told him the bad news. Or good news. Depends really on who’s side you were on; from Stiles’ point of view, another day spent with Derek was never going to be bad news, even if his intimidating sister would be there.

“You just saw him yesterday though!” Scott complained.

“I saw you yesterday too man,” Stiles pointed out while he wrote a quick note to stick up on the fridge for when his dad came home at three.

“Yeah, but this is an emergency! Shouldn’t best friends take priority when they’re in need of help?” Stiles groaned for real this time, truly feeling bad for ditching his friend in his time of need.

“I totally would buddy, you know I would. But I already promised I’d go, and Derek’s sister will probably kill me if I don’t turn up now. Like, seriously. I’m pretty sure she’s capable of pulling something like that off without even getting caught.”

“Wait, is she the scary one who’s older than Derek? The hot one?” Stiles sighed.

“Yup, that’s Laura.” He glanced up at the clock and swore. “I’ve really got to go, I’m sorry Scott.” His best friend sighed but he could tell he wasn’t too mad.

“It’s okay, I’m sure one day I’ll have someone I’m completely obsessed with and blow you off all the time.” Stiles laughed and closed the front door behind him, making sure to lock it.

“Gee, thanks buddy. Love you too!”

“Have fun at Derek’s,” Scott replied then hung up. Stiles pulled his bike out into the drive then hopped on and started to pedal.

 

The Hale house wasn’t too far away from his own; it was in cycling distance after all, but it was still on the outskirts of the preserve, so half the journey was spent trying to make his way over the rough ground of the forrest. When Stiles finally arrived, he could see Laura on the swing set up on the front porch of the large house. She looked up when she heard his bike run through a puddle and grinned. “Hey Stiles!” She called, and her words seemed to reach people in the house as the next second both Oliver and Sean came rushing out. They were both shy, Oliver more so than his younger brother, but they seemed to like him so Stiles counted that as a win.

“Stiles!” Sean called happily and bounded down the steps to greet him.

“Hey buddy,” Stiles ruffled the kid’s hair. “I like your top,” he pointed and the five year old grinned toothily at him.

“Mummy got it for me last week! Iron Man is the bestest!”

“He sure is! But you know who I think is even better?” Sean shook his head. “Spiderman of course.” The boy shook his head.

“Nuh uh, no way! Iron Man can fly.” The kid had a good point.

“But, can Iron Man do cool ninja moves when fighting the bad guys?” Sean seemed to think for a second.

“He doesn’t need to. He can just shoot the bad guys,” he said confidently. Stiles grinned.

“Fair enough, you win.” Sean cried happily at his win and raced back into the house to tell everyone how he had just beaten Stiles.

 

When Stiles looked back up at the porch after resting his bike against it, he saw Laura giving him one of her smiles that made him feel kind of nervous. Instead of dealing with her, he wandered up the steps and smiled at Oliver.

“Hey Oliver, how’s it going?” Oliver shrugged and looked down at his sock covered feet.

“I’m okay,” he said quietly.

“So, what are you reading?” Oliver looked down at the book he was clutching as if he forgot he had even been holding it.

“It’s my math homework.”

“Oh, math is one of my favourite subjects!” Stiles told him enthusiastically but Oliver gave him an incredulous look.

“But it’s so hard.”

“Not when you find ways around it,” Stiles shrugged. “Are you stuck on something now?” Oliver nodded hesitantly.

“We’re doing fractions at the moment.”

“I can help you, if you want?” Oliver looked at him in shock, then seemed unsure, but finally nodded with a small smile. “Cool! Let’s go then, I just need to tell Derek I arrived without dying or something.”

 

Derek didn’t seem happy that Stiles was going to spend the first half an hour with Oliver, but he didn’t complain. He did kiss him so well that Stiles literally wobbled as he tried to walk away though. Derek accompanied him to the library where Oliver was working, saying he would just read until Stiles was done. “You’re just worried your cousin will try and make a move on me,” Stiles teased him, nudging Derek with his shoulder. “It’s understandable. I mean, who could resist this,” he gestured to himself with an over exaggerated arm wave.

“Exactly, can’t be too careful,” Derek agreed, smirking. It was met with just an overdone eyeroll from Stiles who then went over to sit next to Oliver.

“I’m sorry, if you want to hang out with Derek-” Stiles shook his head quickly at the boy.

“He’s totally overrated, I’d much rather be here.” He knew Derek was still within hearing distance, and he could just imagine the expression he would be pulling at that. “So which bit are you stuck on?”

 

Stiles didn’t realise how quickly the time had passed until Derek approached their table where Stiles was drawing an example out for Oliver. They both looked up when Derek slid into the chair opposite. “Hey Ollie, you’ve had your fair share of time with him. How about letting someone else have Stiles for a bit?” Oliver actually rolled his eyes at his cousin. He seemed at ease with Derek, which Stiles found adorable that Derek had obviously put so much effort into making Oliver feel relaxed with him.

“I think Stiles is his own person who can choose who he spends his time with,” Stiles put in, and couldn’t believe that Derek actually looked like he was pouting.

“Well, _I_ think Stiles will come and hang out with me for a bit if he knows what’s good for him.” Stiles saw Derek scowl at Laura over his shoulder before he heard her. “Oh don’t give me that look Dere-bear,” she said with a wave of her hand which then rested on Stiles’ shoulder. He didn’t know how to react to Laura, but she seemed similar to Lydia and that was never going to work in his favour. “You can get your boyfriend back once I’m done with him, probably in the same condition I found him in, though I’m not making any promises.” She leered at him and it made Stiles gulp, causing Laura to let out a small laugh. “Come on then Stiles, we can go to the kitchen and you can help me prepare lunch.” Stiles didn’t really get much say in that as she had already grabbed him and hauled him out of the seat. He only managed a quick wave over his shoulder to a grumpy looking Derek before Laura had pulled him out the library.

 

“So, Stiles Stilinski.” Stiles looked up from the mixture Laura had ordered him to do for the cake she had wanted to do. “As a doting and concerned sister, I feel it is my duty to make sure you have the right intentions for my brother’s heart.”

“Er..” She sighed.

“I’m just making sure you’re not planning anything terrible for Derek. He’s not very good at choosing partners you see, and although you seem nice enough, you could secretly be plotting against this entire family.” Stiles stared at her in shock. “Wouldn’t be the first time,” she added, muttering under her breath in a way Stiles knew he wasn’t really supposed to hear.

“I’m not a psychopath, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Ah, but that’s what a psycho would say,” she told him, but it was with a smirk so Stiles knew she was only partly serious. Stiles stopped stirring the mixture and frowned.

“Do you want me to tell you that I am serious about what Derek and I are doing? That I’m so serious right now it’s actually freaking me out and whenever he’s around I get all kinds of nervous because he just makes me _feel_ things, like when he’s nice to Oliver, or when does that laugh that is actually genuine, or even when he freaking pulled me out of that damn pool. And I have no _idea_ what to do with it.” Stiles took a deep breath, calming his now racing heart. Laura just watched him patiently until he was done, then, slowly, she started to smile and shake her head.

“Boys are so bad at this stuff, I don’t know how you get anywhere.” Stiles only stared, confused. “You’re in love with him.” Laura said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and once the words were out in the open, Stiles could see it. Of course it was obvious, because Stiles was in love with Derek and he hadn’t even realised. He hadn’t even realised it _happening_ until now.

“You know what Stiles, you’re alright. Anyone who can feel like that about my completely inept brother is worth keeping around,” she patted his arm gently. “Welcome to the mad house.”

 

“Stiles! You need to come quick, Derek says he’s in trouble!” They had just put the cake mix in the oven when Sean came dashing into the kitchen at full pelt, almost running straight into one of the counters before Laura grabbed him.  
“O-okay? Where is he?” The boy struggled out of Laura’s grasp and grabbed Stiles’ hand.

“This way!” he exclaimed and tugged so Stiles would follow him out the kitchen. He was being dragged around a lot by the Hales today, it seemed to be becoming a trend. Sean lead Stiles through the house, pulling his hand insistently when he obviously wasn’t going quick enough for the five year old’s liking. When Sean pushed open the door of the den cross cinema room Derek had shown him all those months ago, Stiles was expecting to see the guy dying on the floor or something going by the way Sean was reacting, but instead, Derek was lounging happily on one of the overly cushioned L shaped couch. Stiles stared at him but Derek just grinned at Sean who bounced over to him.

“Thanks buddy,” he ruffled the child’s hair. Reaching into his pocket, Derek pulled out a small bag of haribos and held it just out of reach or Sean’s grabby hands.

“Derek!” he cried, jumping up trying to reach it. “I saved Stiles from Laura really well! Please!” Stiles shook his head and laughed.

“ _That_ was your diabolical plan?” When he was distracted, Sean was able to grab the sweets and dash out of the room, cackling the whole way.

“It worked, didn’t it?” Derek gestured to the space next to him, Stiles smirked.

“Laura is not going to be happy,” he said but threw himself down and buried himself in the cushions.

 

There was an aura of despair present at Beacon Hills High on monday morning as all the lackadaisical students returned from Spring Break. There was dragging of feet as they made their way into the dull looking building to face the monotonous schedule that would become their lives for their final semester of the year. Stiles was among those who had yet to walk up the stone steps as he waited for Scott to arrive. Well, he hovered by the bike racks as pretense for waiting for Scott, but really it was the best place to inconspicuously linger for the sleek black Camaro to pull into it’s usual space. When it did, his heart almost jumped out his throat. He’d only seen Derek a couple of days ago, but Stiles was still struck by how good Derek looked as he slid out of his car gracefully. He was surprised when Derek’s eyes immediately sought him out, and how, as soon as they caught sight of him kneeling down by his bike, a wide smile spread across his face. Stiles blushed and looked away, only to notice the group of teenagers watching Derek closely. Rebecca and Anne-Marie were leaning up against a small silver car, which Stiles assumed belonged to one of the guys Derek used to be friends with too.

 

Derek started to approach him, not even pausing when Rebecca called his name. Stiles had no idea how he was supposed to act now at school, so he just waited for Derek to make the move. When he reached the racks, Derek didn’t hesitate to place a warm hand on Stiles’ hip and leant forward so their lips met. It was only quick, but it had almost everyone still left outside starring.

“Everyone is looking at us,” Stiles muttered. Derek shrugged.

“Let them,” he replied then wrapped an arm around Stiles’ shoulder. As they strode towards the main building, people parted to let them by. Stiles now knew what having over fifty pairs of eyes on you was like; it made him uncomfortable, like they were burning little holes all over his body. But, the couple managed to make it all the way to Stiles’ locker before anyone actually said anything above a whisper.

“You’ve finally sunk the lowest you can go Hale.” Charlie approached, followed closely by Derek’s previous friends, all glaring at the two of them by Stiles’ locker. Derek didn’t move from where he was leaning against the locker beside Stiles’, he only glanced up at them with a disparaging look.

“Great opinion Charlie, too bad nobody asked for it.” Stiles gulped. He knew Derek could hold his own against the idiots in front of them, he _knew_ he could, but it would still be at least three against one.

“He’s just some loser kid Derek. You’re really going to give up everything for this spaz?” Stiles tried not to feel hurt, but he was sure Derek must have seen the way it flashed in his eyes, even just for a second. Derek’s expression turned dark. He leapt forward before anyone else could react and had Charlie pinned against the lockers, arm across his throat to hold him there.

“You better watch your tongue Mitchell,” he whispered dangerously, his face close to the fast-turning red one of Charlie’s. “That’s my boyfriend you’re talking about.” Charlie went to knee Derek in the groin, but Derek must have anticipated it because the next second he had Charlie slammed against the lockers again and he was fuming. Stiles knew they were attracting a crowd, and he was just waiting for a teacher to show up and drag Derek off to the principal's office again for fighting in school.

“Derek,” he touched the other boy’s shoulder gently and Derek instantly relaxed. “He’s not worth it, let’s just go.” Derek did a little nod to Stiles then turned back to Charlie, who now did have a hint of fear in his expression.

“Stay away from us, or I’ll make you. Got that?” Once Charlie had nodded, Derek let him go so he could stumble back to his friends and make a hasty exit.

“You know, once in a while I think I need to beat someone up for you, otherwise I’m going to end up getting a complex.” Derek snorted and took Stiles’ hand in his own.

“Okay, next time you can punch the guy.” Stiles grinned.

“That’s all I ask.”

 

It was funny, looking back to the start of the academic year and seeing how far his life had come. He started off as just a statistic, one in the crowd, barely noticed by anyone unless he was doing something exceptionally weird. He had no friends really, but he was fortunate enough to actually crash into the one guy in the whole of Beacon Hills High who could turn his world upside down. Now, Stiles found himself looking round his lunch table and smiling. Scott sat opposite him, happily debating comic books with Derek’s new friend Isaac. Beside them sat Erica and Boyd, also Derek’s friends who both turned out to be pretty cool. Derek was sat pressed up against his side, one hand laced with Stiles’ on top of the table and the other being used to pick at the terrible school meal. At least that was something which hadn’t changed. Stiles looked over at his boyfriend- yes, Derek had called them _boyfriends_ \- and he grinned even wider. There was still a lot for them to talk about; where was Derek going to college, would they be able to do long distance? But Stiles wasn’t worrying about that, not until it came up. He was just going to enjoy it. Enjoy the fact that for the first time he had people to laugh with, to sit and discuss the most meaningless things with. Scott looked away from Isaac for a second, just to grin at him even though he probably had no idea what had caused the smile on Stiles’ face. Derek squeezed his hand, almost as if it was a subconscious thing, and Stiles would have thought it was if he hadn’t caught the curl of Derek’s lip in the corner of his eye.

 

“You know, I think I’m in love with you,” Stiles told Derek later that day while they were spread out on his bed, each with their own school books laid out. He had planned to make it more dramatic, more romantic maybe? But it felt right to just get it off his chest in that moment. Derek looked up, shocked.

“Yeah?” Stiles nodded.

“Sure, I mean it took a while, but I guess you can only defend my honour a number of times before I start to feel _something_.” Derek laughed, and it was that perfect one with his scrunchy face and everything.

“I think I’m in love with you too,” Derek whispered while he crawled over their books so he could rest his forehead against Stiles’. Stiles beamed.

“You think?” Derek rolled his eyes but hummed in agreement. “Well, it's to be expected I guess. I mean, I am fantastic, who could resist?” Stiles declared and Derek pushed him back to pin him to his pillows.

“You’re an idiot,” he told him, pressing a lingering kiss to his lips. Stiles laughed.

“Yes, but the _important_ thing is we’re both idiots **together**.” He allowed Derek to properly kiss him then, only laughing when their noses bumped together and their limbs tangled awkwardly.

 

They didn’t return to their work for at least half an hour, and that was only because his dad almost walked in on them. And yet, Stiles couldn’t have been happier.

 


	2. Extracts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And this is what happened afterwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You asked, I delivered.
> 
> Also, first time writing this style of thing so it's probably quite bad, forgive me?

There was food everywhere. And that wasn’t even an exaggeration; there were literally little pieces of food covering the kitchen counters in the Stilinski household and Stiles was standing in the middle of it all, a lost expression on his face. He gazed around himself, suddenly regretting all his life choices that had lead to that moment. You see, it wasn’t entirely his fault there was an explosion. Scott was definitely to blame as well in this situation. It was definitely 70% his fault. Okay, maybe it was more around 40% Scott, 10% external factors and 50% Stiles. But Stiles certainly wasn’t completely to blame, that was for sure. See, if Scott had actually told him before yesterday that Isaac would be joining them in their movie night extravaganza then maybe he would have had time to prepare and actually think about what he was doing, instead of just panicking and completely losing his head.

 

“Whoa Stiles, what the hell?!” Speak of the devil. Scott had turned up, walking into the house without knocking like he always did, and come to a complete stop when he saw the mess in the kitchen. Stiles looked round at his buddy and must have sent the most pleading look he could muster because Scott seemed to leap into action. “Okay, don’t panic,” he said, stepping forward. “We can get this cleaned up before Isaac arrives,” Scott placed a comforting hand on Stiles shoulder and squeezed gently. “Breath Stiles,” he added. Stiles nodded, taking in a deep lungful of air, then spluttering when the weirdly scented air hit the back of his throat.

“I don’t- It just exploded! I turned around for one minute and then.. Bam!” Stiles waved his arms dramatically and Scott frowned, turning to the still smoking microwave. Picking at the contents carefully, he prodded and poked until he turned with an incredulous look towards Stiles.

“You put tin foil in the microwave?”  
“No way, I’m not an idiot Scott, I know not to do that.” Scott raised an eyebrow then showed Stiles one of the remaining pieces still recognisable in the mess.  
“Then what is this?” he asked. Upon seeing it, Stiles threw his hands in the air and cried out.

“I give up!” He slid down the the floor against one of the cleaner cabinets and buried his head in his hands. “Kill me mercifully Scott, before my dad gets home and drags out the murder to teach me a lesson,” he mumbled into his palms. He didn’t jump when he felt Scott slide down beside him.

 

“Are you okay Stiles?” He sighed.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine,” came his quick reply, too quick really, making Scott suspicious.

“Is this about Derek coming back tomorrow?” Scott asked carefully. Stiles groaned.  
“No.. Yes. I guess so?” He looked up. “I don’t know Scott, I mean I’ve spoken to him like every day since he left and yet I’m still as nervous as anything to see him tomorrow. What if he’s changed? What if I’m just not what he wants anymore? There’s got to be so many guys there he could have if he wanted, why would he stick with some kid he was with in high school?”

“Hey,” Scott wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “You can’t think like that buddy. If he didn’t want to be with you anymore then why would he be coming to see you before he even goes to see his family?” Stiles shrugged and looked like he wanted to interrupt so Scott continued. “And he wouldn’t have been texting you constantly if he didn’t want you anymore bro. I mean, he’s worse than anything I could have imagined.” Stiles couldn’t help but roll his eyes at that.

“He’s not that bad,” he muttered.  
“You get a text every morning from him when you wake up, even if he’s been out the night before or is completely overwhelmed with work,” Scott deadpanned while Stiles flushed.

“How did you- I’m never lending my phone to Isaac again,” Stiles said with a grumpy hint to his tone, folding his arms and even frowning in a way that would make Derek proud.

“But you see my point?” Stiles sighed but nodded begrudgingly. Scott patted his shoulder. “Good. Lets get this cleaned up then."

 

 

* * *

 

Derek wasn't sure if he liked college yet. There were parts that he loved; the freedom to study whenever he wanted, the sport was great, and whenever there was a huge frat party going on he always got his dorm room to himself. But there were parts that he hated, especially the guy he was sharing with. Derek had come up with a whole list of problems with the guy in his head, and he was just adding to it each day. Keith Harris was so similar to Charlie it was kind of scary. It was no surprise that he shared his surname with Derek's old chemistry teacher. When he told Stiles, the other boy had instantly assumed they were related and suggested Derek ask to see a family tree or something.

 

Somehow though, Derek had managed to find himself a group of actual friends. He still spoke to Andy often, but Derek had assumed he wouldn't get close to anyone in San Francisco.

"Hale, get off your damn phone and get your ass over here!" He rolled his eyes at Leigh but slipped his phone into his back pocket and joined the group over by the TV. As he sat down on the floor beside Leigh, she dumped a plate of pizza onto his lap and grinned.

"Not texting that boyfriend again are you Hale?" she asked around her own mouthful of the greasy take out. The other three lifted their heads to roll their eyes at him. Manasa and Vivek Nair, siblings from Kochi, India, were both majoring in Bio Chem while Richie Yau was in most of the same classes as Derek, still trying to decide to focus on English or History.

“So what if I was?” Derek asked nonchalantly, all the while trying to stop the flush rising up his neck.

“Isn’t it past his bedtime already?” Manasa asked cheekily and Derek was sorely tempted to throw his half eaten slice of pizza at her, but his semester funds were running low as it was, he couldn’t afford to be wasting precious food. Turned out college burnt a lot of money even if you weren’t going out every night.

“I still don’t get how you haven’t been shot yet my friend,” Richie shook his head. “Didn’t you say his dad was a Sheriff?” He nudged Derek with his foot causing Derek to shrug, though the flush had definitely reached his ears.

“We don’t- we’re not like that.”

“So you aren’t getting it on with a minor?” Manasa’s tone was skeptical, and Derek did actually sacrifice his crust for his cause. She glared at him and searched the couch cushions so she could chuck it back at him.

“Enough, children,” Leigh sighed goodnaturedly. “If Derek says he isn’t breaking any laws, then I’m sure he isn’t. Anyway, I’ve met the guy, and he’s very cute. I’d probably consider committing a misdemeanor for a piece of that in a year or so.” A growl from Derek had her giggling. “Such an overprotective asshole, who would have known.”

“I don’t think it’s fair that Leigh has met the love of your life and we haven’t,” Vivek finally added his bit to their conversation. He stretched out his long legs and they all heard his shoulder pop when he stretched that too. Manasa gave him a disgusted look which only made him click every single finger just to irritate his sister.

“I am never letting any of you meet him, ever,” Derek told them resolutely. He couldn’t even imagine how detrimental things could get if his new friends met Stiles. The problem wasn’t that they would dislike him; quite the opposite in fact, because Derek already knew they would love him, and they would probably end up ganging together against him. He didn’t even want to imagine Manasa and Stiles together.

 

“So it’s decided then.” Derek zoned back into the conversation happening around him and frowned when he realised everyone was grinning at him.

“What’s decided?”

“Operation: Meet Stiles is a go.” Grins all around him made Derek groan. Of course they would do this. Of course they would.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Yeah Scott, I’ve just reached my house now.” Stiles juggled his phone and lacrosse stick with his house keys so he could unlock the front door. He planned on just getting inside and turning the xbox straight on so he and Scott could game all night. There was a party going on, but neither of them particularly wanted to go since their significant others wouldn’t be there. Not that Scott actually had a ‘significant other’, unless you counted a five second conversation with the new girl over a borrowed pen, which Stiles most certainly didn’t. He did feel bad for his best friend though because he could tell how infatuated Scott was with Allison.

 

Stiles cheered half heartedly once he had finally managed the door and safely reached the other side without dropping anything. He struggled to close it and then just dumped everything in the hallway to deal with later. His whole body was aching. Coach had been pushing them hard in training since his two captains had left, and Jackson was a nightmare as the new one. Every training session always included suicide runs, and now they also had a weight session added on to increase endurance or something. Stiles didn’t particularly care what it did to his game since it was making his muscles feel like jelly every Wednesday. Now though, all he wanted to do was have a shower, crawl into bed and call Derek while he smashed Scott on the xbox. He wasn’t sure if Derek would be out though, since it was a Friday night and all. He often mentioned a group of friends he had made who would probably want to be partying as much as possible considering it was the first year.

 

Stiles slipped his phone out as he climbed the stairs sluggishly, pulling his weary body towards his room. There were no missed messages from Derek. He sighed. He probably shouldn’t call him then, he thought as he pushed his bedroom door open. Stiles chucked his phone onto his bed without looking, already stripping his shirt over his head. Instead of the normal dull thud that he would have expected to hear from the phone bouncing on his mattress through was a muffled grunt. Spinning around as fast as his muscles would allow, Stiles stared at the human shaped lump curled up on his bed. The only thing that stopped the very undignified yell of shock escaping his mouth was the undeniably familiar dark hair visible from where Stiles could see the other boy’s back.

“Derek?” he whispered, but there was no response. Stiles shuffled over to the sleeping boy and nudged him gently. “Hey, Derek?” A groan. “Derek!” He jumped back when Derek sat up suddenly, looking around in a daze as if he had no idea where he was. When he caught sight of Stiles he smiled sheepishly. “Fancy explaining what you’re doing here?” Stiles asked. “Not that I’m unhappy that you are of course, because I’ve missed you like crazy, but ya know, you’re crashed out on my bed, and my front door was locked.” Derek ran a hand through his hair and slid so he had his feet on the floor and his knees were brushing Stiles’ legs.

“Surprise?” Derek looked up through his eyelashes and Stiles almost melted into a puddle right there. Instead he leaned forward, resting his hands on Derek’s shoulders and ducked his head so their lips could meet. Derek wrapped an arm around his waist and tugged so Stiles fell on top of him. They lay back on the bed and Derek’s mouth moved to Stiles’ jaw, pressing open mouthed kisses along it. “Missed you,” he muttered into the skin like a secret, breathing out so it would permeate through to Stiles’ veins.

“Me too,” Stiles managed through small gasps and moans. They rolled around on the sheets until Derek was hovering over Stiles, eyes burning, pupils blown. Stiles tried to catch his breath.

“Still didn’t answer my question,” he got out.

“Some classes were canceled so I have a long weekend and wanted to surprise you,” Derek said with their foreheads pressed together. Stiles felt safe, caged in between Derek’s arms, with the weight of his boyfriend on him. He smiled. “I’m sorry I fell asleep,” Derek added, brushing his lips across cheekbones.

“I guess you’re forgiven.” Another long open mouthed kiss. “Doesn’t explain-” another, “how you-” and another, “got in,” Stiles finally managed to get out.

“Your dad let me in when he left for work,” Derek mumbled, this time into the skin where Stiles’ collarbone protruded slightly.

“Mmm, he likes you. Looks like you can stay.” Stiles felt Derek smile against his throat then saw him push up onto his elbows and smile down at him. He still looked vaguely sleep-mused and it made Stiles’ heart warm.

“Good,” was all Derek said.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Stiles jogged up the front steps of Lydia’s house with a bounce in his step, smiling happily at the photo he had just received from Derek; his boyfriend posed in the bottom corner of the screen with the Golden Gate Bridge stretching over the rest of it in the distance. It had taken Stiles months to try and persuade Derek to take a selfie, and looking at the first one he had received, with Derek’s grumpy expression there but eyes bright, he was glad he had.

 

Stiles rang the bell beside the door and waited for an answer, but all he heard was silence. Trying again, he checked his messages to make sure he was there at the right time for their studying session. Lydia hadn’t been in school that day, and Stiles was starting to get worried until finally he heard shuffling the other side of the door. Lydia pulled it open slowly and scowled at him across the threshold, hair tangled and unstyled for once, sticking out at random angles. Her face was paler than usual, and she seemed to wince when she moved. “What do you want Stiles?” she muttered.

“Oh, er, I thought we were going to have a study session?”

“I’m not feeling good, sorry. We’ll have to do it another time,” she made to close the door but Stiles rested his hand on it.

“Wait, what’s wrong? Have you got the flu? Because I know this great recipe for soup my mum used to make that always makes me feel better,” he tried, smiling warmly in a way he hoped would make Lydia feel better just by looking at. It didn’t seem to work though as she winced again and shook her head, shooting Stiles a dejected look.

“No, its nothing Stiles, don’t worry. It’ll be gone in a few days and I’ll be back to normal.” The clogs in his brain started whirling and sudden realisation hit him.

“Oh- oh,” she nodded then tried to close the door again. “No, wait! I can make you feel better! What do you need?” Lydia studied him for a minute then sighed, obviously realising trying to get rid of Stiles now would be pointless.

“Fine, get in here.” Stiles grinned and strode inside, pushing the door closed behind himself.

 

“So I made you cookies,” was the first thing he said to a very unhappy looking Lydia for about an hour. She had been scowling for the first half an hour Stiles had been at her house, and then she had claimed she was going to bed so Stiles decided what she needed was a chocolate overload. Lydia stuck her head up from underneath the mountain of blankets and almost smiled when she saw the tray Stiles was clutching. Reaching out, she made grabby hands that made him laugh but step forward and hand one over. Seeing she was content to just munch on the gooey mess, Stiles sat carefully on the edge of her bed.

“I lied, I can’t bake anything, I had Scott drop those round. How are you feeling?” he asked. She shrugged.

“Crap,” she mumbled around the mouthful of cookie.

“Need anything else?” Stiles was suddenly worried when Lydia smirked.

“You know how you’re basically my gay best friend right?” He rolled his eyes.

“Bisexual best friend, but okay.” She waved a hand half heartedly.

“Yeah yeah, gay for Derek and only Derek, whatever. Anyway, I’ve run out of supplies and I’m going to need you to run to the store, that okay?” He smiled.

“Sure, need more painkillers?”

“No, tampons.”

 

“Scott, I have no idea what I’m doing. Why are there so many?” The two teens faced the feminine products in an aisle Stiles had never visited before, gazing at them in confusion. Scott scratched the back of his head and shrugged.

“I don’t know man, Allison just tells me which ones to buy and I buy them,” Scott explained and Stiles just groaned.

“You know, I thought I’d be getting out of this as soon as I started dating Derek.” Laughing, Scott braved the first step forward and picked up a random box.

“They’re all the same, let’s just get these ones and go.” Stiles shook his head and frowned.

“No, I have been trusted with this and I have to get it right.” Rolling his eyes, Scott didn’t see the moment when Stiles turned and started heading over to a shop assistant at the end of the aisle. “Stiles? Stiles don’t-!” but it was too late, Stiles had already approached her and started pointing at all the different boxes with a confused expression. The girl looked a little scared to be honest, but she gestured for him to follow her and they made their way back towards Scott. She picked out one of the packets and handed it to Stiles, waiting for him to frown and examine before nodding thoughtfully.

“Yes, this will do,” he told her. “Hopefully Lyds won’t try and bite my dick off if they’re the wrong ones,” Stiles added as an afterthought, thoroughly freaking the shop assistant out; enough to make her shuffle away before he could rope her into helping them with anything else. But Stiles didn’t really notice her, not when he was too busy actually starting to worry that Lydia may just carry out the whole biting situation if they didn’t get back soon. He knew how dangerous she could be when she put her mind to it.

 

“Lyds? You in here?” Stiles called up the stairs, and upon hearing a familiar groan in reply, he made his way to Lydia’s room. She was still curled up in bed, but she had managed to pull her laptop over and was scrolling down a web page half heartedly. “I got the stuff,” he said as he leant against her door frame. She looked up and sighed in appreciation. “I wasn’t sure which one to get, so I asked this shop assistant and she helped, though she looked slightly scared and I’m pretty sure she ran away as soon as I wasn’t looking but yeah,” he finished with a shrug, but beamed when Lydia managed a small smile, almost resembling her usual all-knowing smirk.

“You’re the best Stiles,” she sighed happily and gestured to the bed. “Let’s forget about studying and watch a movie. We’re both going to ace that test anyway.” Stiles didn’t even need to deliberate for a second before he was skipping over to the other side of her double bed and collapsing in it beside her.

“How do you feel?” he asked after a minute of silence, filled only with the shuffling Lydia was making to get her laptop in the right place for them both to see.

“Like my insides are being hacked away by an axe,” she said plainly, making Stiles wince.

“How do girls do this every month?” She shot him a smirk while she scrolled through her many movies.

“I guess we’re just a lot tougher than you guys.” She finally decided on a new romcom and settled back into the pillows, snuggling close to Stiles so he would wrap his arms around her shoulders.

“You can say that again,” Stiles muttered then wiggled to get comfortable and watch the movie.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“There’s food in all the cupboards and the fridge is fully stocked.” Nora Henderson gestured to the kitchen and then grabbed a notepad from the counter. “If you don’t know what to cook, I’ve made a list of really simple meals the boys will eat that only take a few minutes, and there’s also instructions in here for how to use everything.” Stiles took the book with a smile at how flustered she was. He had never seen Derek’s aunt like this before, she had always been very chilled when it came to her children. “Oh, there’s also our emergency contact numbers on the fridge just in case, and their doctor’s name and-” Talia Hale interrupted her by placing a calming hand on her shoulder.

“I think he’s got it Nora,” she said with a smile and Nora sighed.

“Yes, of course he does. Sorry Stiles.”

“No, it’s okay. But you don’t need to worry, Ollie and Sean are in great hands! We’ll be fine,” he enthused and saw Nora relax a little more.

“Right, we better head off if we want to beat the rush hour traffic.” She then turned to where Oliver and Sean were standing and bent down. “You be good for Stiles, okay? I don’t want to hear of any fighting when we get back.” She gave them both a stern look and they nodded vigorously. Then, she pulled them both into a hug and patted their heads. The boys then ran over to their dad and Owen scooped them up into a bear hug.

“We’ll be back before you know it,” he told them happily. The adults of the Hale household then left with their last waves and all climbed into the cars they were taking. Stiles stood at the doorway with a boy either side and waved them off as the cars disappeared down the driveway.

 

Derek’s family had all been invited to a wedding that day, and because it had been a no children event, they needed someone to look after Oliver and Sean while they were gone. They were such a close family, and always quite closed off to outsiders, that the only person they felt comfortable enough to look after the boys was Stiles. He had agreed almost as soon as Owen, Derek’s father’s brother, had asked, simply because he loved spending time with the two boys. It was just past 8:30 in the morning, and he had a lot of activities planned to keep the boys entertained and their minds off the departure of their family.

 

Stiles rubbed his hands together and turned to face the two expectant boys. “So boys, what should we do first?” They looked up at him eagerly. “I have everything we need to make a blanket fort, or I brought over my entire collection of Spongebob dvds.” They both looked at each other before Sean cried “fort” in his loudest voice. Stiles grinned.

“Great! Come on then, I know the best place to do it.” He took Sean’s hand and smiled at Oliver who actually smiled widely back and followed them to the playroom. They entered the room and he let go of Sean’s hand so he could show them what was there. They both listened carefully to his plan and the tips he gave, though Sean just seemed more interested in the pop-up tunnel Stiles had found in his garage. Oliver however did listen closely and then started unfolding the old sheets Talia had said they could use.

 

It took most of the morning to get the basic stuff up so the fort had a sheet roof spread between the window sill and a table, draping down to create the ultimate corner hiding place. There were three sheets all together to create the masterpiece and at least twenty pillows that needed to be put in. Chairs had been used to make the entrance, and the pop-up tunnel was the only way to get in, which Sean loved. He wouldn’t stop crawling through it, or hiding half way then bursting out to scare Stiles or Oliver. Every time Stiles would cry out, just to see the boy’s face light up and laughter bubble out of his mouth. They stopped for lunch, which Stiles made quickly and efficiently so they could get back to building. The finishing touches were being made at around 5 and the fort was looking marvelous. Stiles stood back and admired their hard work with a huge grin. He turned to Oliver who was next to him, also taking in their awesome fort.

“Nice work Ollie,” he praised the boy who flushed at the compliment. “I say we make some supper then watch Spongebob inside the fort, what do you say?” Oliver seemed to think it over.

“How can we see the TV from inside?”

“I brought my laptop, we’ll watch it on there. That okay? Or would you prefer to watch something else?” Oliver quickly shook his head.

“No,” he paused. “I love Spongebob,” he whispered it like it was a huge secret, but it made Stiles smile.

“Great! Should we go check out what your mum suggested for food?”

 

They ended up making pasta and tomato sauce with vegetables, and Stiles let the boys measure out the pasta and help with the vegetables. He had Sean colouring at the kitchen table while he and Oliver stirred the pots on top of the stove. While they waited for everything to cook, he chatted with Oliver about school and his classmates. He was struck again with just how smart Oliver was, and he smiled at some of the stuff he managed to get out of him about his friends. He told him all about his friend Claire and her two dads who were the coolest people in the world, according to Oliver. In turn, Stiles told him stories of his own time in middle school and some funny ones to do with his times spent in the Sheriff’s department. Stiles honestly loved the two boys like they were his own cousins. He had always wished for a bigger family, and these two were the best behaved kids he had ever met.

 

When they were finished eating, they were both fully prepared to do all the washing up like their mum had taught them, and Stiles almost died at how Sean even had a little stool he could drag over to the sink so he could reach. He put Oliver on drying duty and rolled up his sleeves so he could help Sean with the washing. The five year old probably ended up getting more water on the both of them than was left in the sink afterward, but he had giggled the whole way through and Stiles hadn’t the heart to make him stop. So he frogmarched the little boy upstairs afterwards to change into pajamas for movie time and also snuck into Derek’s room to grab one of his old T-shirts to change into himself. He pressed his nose into the collar of the graphic tee and sighed at the familiar scent, wishing his boyfriend was back home so they could have spent the whole day together. He quickly got out his phone and snapped a picture of himself in the T-shirt and sent it to Derek, hoping it would make the other boy smile. He got a call almost instantly.

“I didn’t expect you to call,” Stiles said as he answered.

“Sorry, I can call back later if you’re busy?”

“No, it’s fine, I’m just about to get the boys set up for a Spongebob marathon in our blanket fort we made.” Derek hummed. “You should see it Derek, it is probably the best one I’ve ever made. And the boys were so great today, I can’t believe how well behaved they are. I mean, we built the fort and Sean didn’t get bored once, and then they helped me make dinner and they even washed up afterwards! Gosh, if we have kids they better turn out like those two I swear.” He didn’t realise what he had said until Derek went eerily quiet. “I mean-”

“Kids?” Stiles swallowed.

“Er, yeah, I mean- If we ever get to that point, you know?” Derek breathed out.

“They’d definitely be cuter than those two.” Stiles laughed, loud and relieved, glad Derek hadn’t been freaked out by his slip-up. The problem was, he really was only 17 and thinking about children was probably the weirdest thing, but he had meant in the distant future because he knew Derek was his forever, as cheesy as that sounded.

 

There was a tug at his trousers. Stiles looked down and saw Sean gazing up at him with his big puppy eyes. “Can we watch Spongebob now?” he asked and Stiles nodded.

“Sure thing buddy, I’m just on the phone with Derek so I’ll set it up and you and your brother can catch me up when I get there.” Sean’s eyes widened at the sound of his cousin’s name and he reached up.

“Can I talk to him?” Stiles grinned.

“Okay, let’s go downstairs and you can talk to him with Oliver.” Derek chuckled down the phone, obviously able to guess the excited expression on his younger cousin’s face.

“They want to talk to you, that okay?” Stiles asked while following Sean downstairs.

“Of course, I haven’t spoken to them in ages. I probably should call home more often.”

“Probably. I bet Talia misses you like crazy.”

“Is that your secret way of telling me you miss me like crazy too?” Stiles could hear the smirk in his boyfriend’s tone. He huffed.

“Of course not, you’re an asshole. In fact, I’m giving you over to Sean right now.” He grinned and handed his phone to the boy whole clutched it carefully in both hands and held it up to his ear. Oliver hovered next to him, waiting for a moment to talk to Derek too. While they were both occupied, Stiles crawled into the fort and set his laptop up so they would all be able to sit comfortably and see the screen. Just as he was about to put the first dvd in, the two boys crawled through the tunnel and handed back his phone with Derek no longer on the line.

“He told me to tell you that he would let us watch Spongebob now and he would call you later,” Oliver said as he sat down beside Stiles on one of the big cushions. “He also said..” Oliver grimaced, “that he loved you.” He said it with a shudder and Stiles laughed, knowing Derek had done that on purpose.

“Thanks Ollie,” he ruffled the boy’s hair. “Okay, let’s watch Spongebob!” Seas cheered and Stiles pressed play.

 

It was only halfway through the first disk when Sean’s head started to droop and his eyes grew heavy. By the end of it he was sound asleep. Oliver resisted the exhaustion until the end of the second disk, then he too cuddled down into the nest of pillows and blankets and drifted off. They looked so unbelievably cute that Stiles couldn’t help but snap a few photos and send one to both Talia and Nora. He then took one with his face in the corner and the boys in the background, their faces lit by the laptop screen light and sent it to Derek.

“ _You have Leigh and Manasa cooing and trying to text you back, stop being cute_ ” was the reply he got and Stiles bit his lip in amusement. “ _I love you too_ ” he replied quickly before shutting down his laptop and nudging Oliver awake.

“Hey Ollie, time for bed,” he whispered and the twelve year old groaned but pushed himself into a sitting position. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. “I’m going to carry Sean upstairs. We can tidy this stuff up tomorrow.” Oliver nodded slowly then crawled out of their fort, closely followed by Stiles who lifted a sheet up so he could carry Sean out. “Hey Ollie, can you do a quick favour for me?” He handed his phone over to the boy and Ollie got a photo of Stiles holding a sleeping Sean, his face pressed against his shoulder and his arms wrapped around Stiles’ neck loosely. “Thanks Ollie.” He took the phone back and pocketed it. “I’ll come check on you once I’ve put your brother to bed.”

 

Stiles put Sean to bed without waking him and checked to make sure Oliver was okay before turning off the lights and slipping into Derek’s room where he would spend the night. He got out his phone and melted at the photo Oliver had taken. He sent it to Derek with a winky face and got a grumpy face in return, with the message “ _wish I was there_ ”. Stiles drew Derek’s covers up to his ears and texted his boyfriend back until he fell asleep mid-conversation.

 

Stiles was jolted away by a gentle tapping on his arm which was dangling off the side of the bed. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see the outline of the two boys beside his bed so he checked the clock. 2am. “Are you okay?” he asked, worried something had happened while he was out.

“We couldn’t sleep,” Sean whispered and his eyes welled up with unshed tears. Stiles’ heart broke.

“Did you have nightmares?” Olive shook his head. “Okay, well how about you stay here with me for the rest of the night?” They both nodded and quickly climbed into the bed either side of him. They settled so Stiles was on his back and his body was used as a pillow for both boys, Oliver curled up on his right and Sean spread out down his left side. Surprisingly, they both fell asleep within half an hour after that, and Stiles was gone not long after.

 

That was how Nora found them early the next morning when they all got back. Stiles was barely awake when she poked her head into the room, and he wasn’t conscious enough to care much about the whispered conversation happening just inside the room. He didn’t even open his eyes at the sound of a phone camera going off. He just pulled the two bodies beside him closer and shuffled deeper down into the covers that smelt so strongly of Derek and warmth and comfort.

 

 

* * *

 

 

_11:51_

Stiles checked his phone again and sighed. He looked over at a dosing Scott who was slouched down in Stiles' desk chair, open book ruffled from where his slack hand rested on the pages, creasing some when he twitched.

_11:53_

To be honest, Stiles didn't know why he was so excited. His birthday was a big deal, of course. After all, how often do you turn 18? And he wasn't going to lie, 18 was a big milestone for his relationship with Derek. Things had been kept minimal for the most part between them, because for some reason Derek felt like waiting was the only option. Like a few months could even make a difference. But his actual birthday was not going to be a big deal. He would go to school as per normal, attend classes like every other day, and would have gone out for dinner with his dad and the McCalls like he did every year, but his dad had an unavoidable training course that would last right into the evening. Stiles didn't mind, because they had done the meal last weekend. So why did he keep checking the time?

_11:56_

He heard his dad grunt from the other room. Stiles looked down at his text book and sighed heavily before trying to read the page again. Nothing was going in. They had a test tomorrow and he was supposed to be helping Scott so his best friend could graduate at the same time as the rest of their class. Scott's problem wasn't understanding the information, it never had been, it was simply remembering it all. He had the memory of a goldfish and Stiles spent half his life just repeating stuff over and over so Scott would be able to regurgitate it in the next test.

_11:59_

Stiles looked over at his friend. "Scott?" he whispered, starting Scott awake. The boy looked around, disorientated at first then focusing on Stiles sat in the middle of his bed. Scott checked his watch and grinned. Stiles watched him get up slowly, obviously aching a bit from how he had been sleeping, and jump onto the bed beside him.

"Last minute of 17 dude," he told him happily, obviously wide awake now and bouncing excitedly. Stiles nodded. Scott shuffled some more, pulled out a party popper and showed it to Stiles. It was a tradition of theirs now. They would spend the night at whoever's birthday it was and pop a party popper as the clock struck 12. It only started because Stiles wanted Scott to feel better in their Freshman year when he had, yet again, been told his dad wouldn't be home to celebrate. Somehow it had stuck.

"10, 9, 8," Scott started chanting, voice quiet though so they wouldn't wake the Sheriff. "2, 1, Happy Birthday!"

_00:00_

Scott pulled the string and they were covered in long strings of coloured paper. Stiles lifted some and wrapped it around his fingers while Scott dumped a pile on Stiles' head so it got caught up in his hair. He pushed his friend lightly for it and ran fingers through the locks to try and tug the paper out, regretting the day he had decided to grow his hair out last year. Stiles' phone buzzed from beside Scott, drawing his attention away from his now multi-coloured hair. Stiles leapt across the bed, throwing his body across Scott's in hopes to reach the phone before his friend did. He knew who it would be and also knew what Scott would do if he answered the call first. Even with the dramatic lunge, Scott beat him to it.

"Derek, what a surprise." Scott had grown in confidence with Derek since all those years ago in Freshman year. He got over the fear he had felt after realising just how sickening Derek could be with Stiles. Stiles didn't particularly care what had warmed his best friend to his boyfriend, he was just happy they could be in the same room now without Scott looking like he wanted to wet himself. The teasing and sarcasm had only come at the beginning of their Junior year though, after Derek had bought Scott and Allison tickets to some ice hockey game for their six month anniversary. To this day, Stiles had never managed to get it out of Derek why he had done that for his best friend and a girl he didn't even like that much.

Stiles couldn't hear what Derek said, but he saw Scott snort and hand over the phone willingly and he took it without asking any questions incase Scott changed his mind.

"Happy birthday," Derek spoke quietly even though he was probably in his apartment all by himself. He now shared a place with two of his friends but they seemed to hang out at another flat down the hall which their other friends had rented since it was bigger.

"Thanks," Stiles replied. Scott shot him a look, obviously confused why he was being so quiet. Stiles wasn't really sure how to explain it.

"Aren't I supposed to be the moody one?" Derek joked but he sounded concerned. Stiles sighed.

"You know, I'm going to get your present from where I hid it, I'll just-" Scott gestured to the door but Stiles barely registered he had gone until the soft click made him look over.

"What's up?"

"I don't really.. I just.. Is being old scary?" Derek laughed.

"Wow, you make me feel so young," he deadpanned.

"I'm serious. Growing up, leaving this place. Is it scary?"

"Sure, but everything is scary before you try it. And you're ready, you need to go out and see other things, experience other things."

"I know, and I feel ready. But I.. I also feel like I can't leave this place and everyone here, even though I want to. I don't really know how to explain it," Stiles huffed, frustrated that he couldn't convey his thoughts. Derek was silent for a while.

"Think of it like this. Beacon Hills will always be your Littleroot Town, and you can come back to restore whenever you want. No one's stopping you from visiting every weekend if you need to." Stiles couldn't help but smile at the Pokemon analogy.

"You know you're the best right?" Derek scoffed on the other end of the line but Stiles knew he would be smiling fondly. "I miss you," he added,  tone wasn't as contemplative as before but still sombre.

"Yeah, I miss you too. But we'll see each other soon." Stiles looked up as Scott re-entered the room and he sighed again.

"I better go, school tomorrow and we haven't finished studying yet." Derek chuckled, they said their goodbyes, then hung up.

"Everything okay?" Scott asked. Stiles nodded.

"Yeah, Derek sorted it out."

"Doesn't he always?" Scott said with a smile. He then held his present out proudly and Stiles laughed out loud at the teenage mutant ninja turtles wrapping paper and themed card where Scott had added a one before the number eight already on there. "They didn't do eighteen so I had to improvise," he explained. Stiles shook his head.

"Dude, it's the best. Thank you." Scott beamed happily.

"Happy birthday Stiles."

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

Stiles’ graduation is not a massive deal because he doesn’t want it to be. His dad and the Hales watch from the crowd as he goes across the stage, and he heard his dad clapping above everyone else’s. They go out for a meal afterward, just his dad and himself and Derek. It was nice; understated, but exactly what he wanted. Scott dragged him to a party with everyone from their year and Stiles dragged Derek along with him because otherwise he would just get drunk and call him anyway. He chatted with people, drank a few drinks and then escaped with Derek outside where they talked and were quiet and relaxed against each other, just enjoying the company.

 

Stiles then had to pack everything up for college. His first day was daunting to say the least, especially being so far away from home for the first time. But he was one city over from Derek and surprisingly good at making friends when all the freshmen were as terrified as he was. In fact, college was a completely different experience to high school. At college, people liked him. People invited him to things, they wanted to hang out with him, and he was hit on by girls and guys at every party he went to and even in some of his lectures. It was almost surreal to Stiles. Obviously he couldn’t care less for the attention at parties, but he loved the new friends he was making and the work was challenging for once. He told Derek all about it and Derek seemed genuinely relieved that Stiles was enjoying college life. It also meant that they could see each other more often thanks to the closer distance since Derek was in his third year at the University of San Francisco, only a 40 minute drive from Stanford.

 

-/-

 

“I still don’t believe you Stilinski,” Marcus called from where his head was buried in the common room fridge. Stiles didn’t look over to his friend and just continued the drumming of his fingers on the wood table, glancing at his phone screen every few seconds. He only stopped the irritating noise when Jen placed a comforting hand over his own. She gave him a silent look of reassurance that made him smile half-heartedly, just so she wouldn’t feel bad. Jen had that sort of effect on people. On his first day at Stanford Stiles had bumped into her while trying to work out where his room was, and they had stuck with each other ever since. His other close friends, they had collected them along the way: like Marcus, a football scholar who was actually the best Chemist Stiles had ever met, and had turned out to be a great roommate. Then there were Kyle and Alex who had known each other before college, and sort of came as a package deal.

 

Marcus’ rustling of food packages nearly distracted Stiles from the text which had just come through. He made to grab for his phone, but Alex was quicker. “ _I can tell you’re drumming your fingers. Stop it. I’ll be there in five minutes_ ,” he read in what he assumed was Derek’s voice, which was surprisingly accurate considering the boy had never even met him. Stiles glared and snatched the phone back. It wasn’t his fault he was nervous that he hadn’t seen Derek in over a month due to their busy timetables. It was also the first time Derek would be visiting the campus as they would normally meet halfway. His friends didn’t even believe he existed, since he had refused to let them anywhere near the room whenever he skyped Derek. Stiles’ friends had met Scott, who had decided to go to the local community college so as to be close to home, but not Derek.

 

“It’s so cute how he knows you so well,” Jen squeezed his hand, making Stiles give her another smile but this time with a well intentioned eye roll along with it.

“Still don’t believe it!” Marcus finally finished with the fridge and stuffed whatever he had made into his mouth, meaning his words were slightly muffled by chewed up food.

“I don’t understand why you don’t believe me? How could I have texted myself?” Marcus shrugged.  
“Maybe you have a friend doing it for you?” Kyle suggested from over in the corner where he was lounging, sketchbook in hand, lazily doodling ideas out.

“And who do you think would do that?” He looked over with a smirk.

“How about that hot one, Lydia? I wouldn’t mind if it was her coming to visit.” Stiles rolled his eyes again.

“Of course you wouldn’t,” he muttered at his overly hormonal friend. “I don’t see what’s so interesting about me having a boyfriend anyway.”

“Your 21 year old boyfriend, who you’ve been with since you were 15,” Alex pointed out.

“He wasn’t 21 when we got together,” Stiles replied stubbornly.

“Oh no, sorry, he was 18. Like that makes all the difference.”

“17, actually,” Stiles snarked, ready for another playful argument he seemed to always get into with Alex. But all of them looked up at the door when someone cleared their throat to get their attention.

“Er, Stiles? There’s some guy downstairs asking for you.” Stiles jumped up and grinned.

“Does he look a bit like a drug dealer?” The other guy frowned but nodded. Grinning even wider, Stiles dashed out the room, knowing his friends would follow without having to be told.  
  
Derek was stood by the front doors of the halls, looking every bit a model he should have been. His usual leather jacket was on, the stubble he had decided to keep as a constant 5 o’clock shadow still present, and he pushed off from the wall which he’d been leaning on when he saw Stiles. Stiles didn’t stop when he reached him, he just sort of threw himself at his boyfriend, claiming his lips with his own.

“Holy shit,” he heard one of his friends mutter.

“Looks like he wasn’t kidding,” Marcus whistled lowly, making Stiles grin wider. When he pulled away though, all he could see was Derek. His boyfriend smiled one of his smiles, making Stiles’ knees weak.

“Missed me?” he asked. Stiles laughed and pulled away.

“You wish sourwolf,” he slid a hand into Derek’s as he said it, pulling him over to where his friends had stopped to ogle them. “Guys,” he looked at their stunned faces and it made him feel so smug he could tell Derek would be able to see it. “This is my boyfriend Derek. Derek, these are my friends Jen, Kyle, Alex and Marcus.” Derek nodded at them all, and they just seemed to stare until Marcus broke the silence.

“I never knew you had it in you Stilinski,” he sounded slightly awed, and Stiles took it as a compliment because he honestly didn’t know how he’d bagged Derek either, but Derek wound an arm around Stiles and he could tell even without looking that the guy was glaring. Stiles was about to fix the situation before Derek got defensive when Kyle spoke up.

“Dude, forget Lydia, Derek can come visit _whenever_ he likes.” Stiles was just happy Derek was there and he hadn’t eaten his new friends yet that he let the mild hitting on him go. He could get Kyle back for that comment later, after he had excused them and let his boyfriend completely ravish him to make up for lost time.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“I’m pretty sure this is kidnapping. Or at least it looks like it.” Stiles stumbled but the hand resting on his shoulder steadied him before he could fall.

“Careful.” If only he could take the damn blindfold off then maybe Derek wouldn’t have to be leading him like a child. “There’s some stairs coming up,” Derek warned him just as Stiles almost tripped up over the first one.

“You’re an ass,” he shot to his left where he was pretty sure Derek was sniggering. But his boyfriend did help him up, and finally they seemed to make it to wherever it was Derek wanted to be. “You going to tell me now why we’re near Stanford?” Stiles heard Derek huff.

“Can you stop being smart for a couple of minutes, it’s ruining the surprise.” Stiles decided that was a compliment and he was going to take it.

“Okay, okay. I’ll shut up.” He heard Derek hum, then a door open, and then he was lead forward a few more paces until Derek pulled him to a stop again. Stiles had to blink a few times to let his eyes adjust to the light after Derek slipped the blindfold off, but once they had, he was speechless. The apartment they were in was massive. Open planned, modern looking with huge windows and a winding staircase leading up to the second floor. The furniture was minimal but tasteful, all matching in ways Stiles never would have thought could work. He was almost certain Lydia had something to do with that, unless Derek had some hidden talent in interior decorating he had never mentioned. He spun round when he heard keys jingling, and Stiles saw Derek holding up a set with a grin on his face.

“You didn’t.” The grin only widened. “I can’t believe- you bought me an apartment?!”

“Us. I bought us an apartment.”

“But, you finished your degree already, I thought you were moving back to Beacon Hills.” Derek dropped the keys in a small pot on a side table near the door and took Stiles’ hand. He lead him over to the bar style island in the white kitchen and they sat down. Stiles gazed around in awe at the perfect surfaces and shiny new appliances, through he knew he’d never get to use them because Derek knew better than to let him near the kitchen these days. The ridiculously large fridge however was a different matter. That was something Stiles would be able to spend hours with.

“I’ve decided what I want to do, at least for now.” Stiles nodded in encouragement. “I want to become a teacher,” Derek said in a rush.

“Are you kidding? That’s great!” Stiles beamed at his boyfriend who smiled hesitantly back. “Seriously, I can totally imagine you as that hot teacher all the kids have a massive crush on. I don’t even know what I would have done if you’d been my teacher, wow.” Stiles took a moment to try and imagine that. “Yup, I definitely could have a teacher kink.” Derek rolled his eyes.

“That better be for me and not some college professor.”

“Oh, Derek, did I forget to mention that massive hard on I have for Mr Riggs, my history professor?” Even though Derek knew it was a joke, Stiles saw the possessive flash in his eye and he grinned.

“Stiles.” Derek warned.

“Oh yeah,” Stiles added airly with a wave of his hand. “We’ve been having this secret affair for the whole year.” Derek growled lowly. Before Stiles knew it, he was being thrown over his boyfriend’s shoulder and carried unceremoniously up the stairs to where he assumed the bedroom would be. He laughed loudly the whole way, much to Derek’s annoyance.

 

They were tangled together on the bed, sheets barely covering them and Derek lightly running his fingers up and down Stiles’ bare chest, when Stiles brought the whole teaching thing back up again. “You didn’t really explain, earlier, why the apartment is here, so close to Stanford,” he said lightly, eyes closed and enjoying the sensation of Derek’s fingers on his skin. Derek huffed.

“Maybe because someone thought baiting me was a good idea,” he grumbled. Stiles laughed.

“But I love your possessive streak!”

“You just love winding me up.”

“Well, yeah,” Stiles conceded. “That, and the amazing sex we always have when you feel you have to prove your point.”

“And what point would that be?” Derek mumbled into the back of Stiles’ neck.

“That I’m yours.” He felt Derek bite down on his skin at his words, and Stiles smiled when Derek sucked yet another hickey onto his body. He was littered in them, as he always seemed to be when he wound Derek up like he had done. It was silent for a few minutes, and Stiles just listened to the cars they could hear passing on the streets below.

“I’ve applied for the two year teaching course at Stanford.” That made Stiles pull out of Derek’s grip and roll around to face him.

“Are you serious?” Derek nodded. “So we’ll be in the same place?” Another nod. “We can get coffee together and study in the library together and make use of all the best make out spots?” Derek nodded once more, but looked mildly confused. “Sorry,” Stiles seemed to realise he needed to explain. “It’s just- I never thought I’d get to have a college relationship. It’s stupid.”

“It’s not. I applied here so we could do that. So we could have a place and do all those things.” A smile bloomed on Stiles’ face.

“We have our own place,” he said with an edge of awe.

“Yeah, we do,” Derek agreed, slightly in awe of it too.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Why is it, that every time you need something, you suddenly forget exactly where you put it? Stiles had been rooting around in every storage cupboard in the house for hours trying to find the winter clothes he’d stashed away somewhere. Through it wasn’t winter yet, there had been a brisk chill about the place that warranted at least a scarf and heavier coat. Derek, being the tough guy that he always pretended to be, insisted he didn’t need his hat and gloves at least for a few more weeks, but Stiles was going to get them out for him anyway because he was a lovely person like that. It had nothing to do with being able to tease Derek about it later when the man inevitably needed his thermals for his morning run, nothing at all.

 

Stiles was elbow deep in stuff when he suddenly caught sight of something blue and rectangular. He made a grab for it and managed to pull it free with only minor injuries from falling objects. Falling backwards so he was lying on the carpeted floor, he looked at what he had assumed was the lid to the box but turned out to be a photo album. The one Scott and Allison had given them a couple of years ago. The cover was a powder blue, with only the word ‘memories’ printed on the front in a cursive font. Stiles had always known it was Allison who had picked it out. If it were up to his best friend, there would be a hell of a lot more glitter involved, because Scott would have undoubtedly confused the concept of a photo album with a scrap book. Saying that though, Scott wasn’t stupid, which he proved to everyone after finally making it out of college, veterinary technician qualification in hand, a year after Stiles finished at Stanford.

 

After picking himself up off the floor, Stiles sat down on the bed and opened to the first page of the album. Staring back up at him were younger versions of himself and Scott, both grinning widely at the camera and soaking wet, their clothes sticking to them and Scott’s hair plastered to his face. It had been taken not long after they first became friends, and Stiles still remembered clearly the epic water fight they’d had in Scott’s backyard, with his neighbour’s evil cat being the unsuspecting target. That neighbour had never talked to the McCalls again after that day, not that they cared all that much, she was terrible lady. The next page was dedicated to embarrassing photos of Stiles and Scott during that first year, then the next was the start of him and Derek together. Stiles skipped to half way through and stopped at one of them together at prom. Derek looked amazing as always, only the tux just seemed to enhance everything. Stiles didn’t look half bad in his own suit, through standing next to the Adonis that was Derek Hale was bound to make him pale in comparison. Still, they both looked happy, smiles on both their faces, even if they looked slightly forced in the way only a prom photo could. The next one to catch Stiles’ eye was a shot of them stood on a river bank, Derek clutching a fishing rod and looking slightly hopeless with Stiles trying to direct him. It had been taken on a camping trip Derek’s college friends had invited them on as a fun bonding weekend. It turned out, as Stiles found out later on, it had all been part of their master plan to meet him since Derek had been dead set against it for so long. To be honest, the weekend had been great, and Stiles had really liked Derek’s friends. He’d even been able to impress them with his superior camping skills (he thanked his dad later for that one).

 

Stiles hadn’t realised Derek had joined him until he leaned over his shoulder, cheek pressed against Stiles’ neck, and made him pause on a different page. The selection of photos on that one were a compilation of Stiles and Derek’s graduations from college. There was an individual shot of each of them, gowns on and diplomas in hand, then a couple of group shots with their respective friends and those of the Beacon Hills gang who had made it. Stiles couldn’t help but smile of the one Lydia had insisted on of herself and him, she having stole his cap and was wearing it while wrapping her arms around his neck. He thought back to all those years ago when he probably would have died if he’d known that moment would happen. Derek just shook his head at him and flipped to the next page. The next group were ones they had taken of their holiday together in the summer after Stiles finished Stanford. They’d decided to go visit Andy in Canada since that was where Derek’s friend had ended up. They’d stayed with him and his fiance, who had acted like their own personal tour guides for the whole time they were there. Stiles had loved it, mainly because he saw how much Derek enjoyed it, because Derek was truly happy seeing Andy again, and seeing his friend so content with life.

 

“I love this one,” Stiles murmured, running his finger gently across the next photo. It was taken just after they moved to San Francisco, on the night Derek proposed.

“Me too,” Derek replied, twining their fingers together. They had decided on a long engagement, because just after Derek popped the question, Scott asked Allison and they went into crazy planning mode. Stiles being the best man meant he had to focus all his energy into keeping Scott calm and making sure his best friend didn’t make any rash decisions. Derek had said he didn’t mind, that he’d waited so many years, another few months wouldn’t make a difference.

“I’m still upset you didn’t go for the joint wedding idea.” Stiles didn’t need to look to know Derek would have that familiar scowl on his face, but he did anyway just to make himself smile. “Still, I guess ours didn’t go so badly, even if it wasn’t with Scott and Allison.” Derek elbowed him gently but Stiles saw him smile softly at the next few pages of their wedding photos. The whole Hale family was in them, even extended family Stiles had only ever met once before. Derek had made Oliver his best man, but there were at least four other cousins in the photos whom he had been introduced to literally the day before.

 

After that there was only blank pages, waiting to be filled with the next life events they experienced. Derek took the album, placed it gently on the floor and pulled Stiles to him so they were lying back on the bed, Derek’s head resting on Stiles’ shoulder and his arms around Stiles’ waist. “We should fill those pages,” Stiles suggested as he carded his fingers through Derek’s hair. The other man hummed. “I was thinking,” Stiles started, nerves suddenly building up. What if Derek didn’t think they were ready? Or thought he was being ridiculous? But Derek saved him the trouble.

“This house is a little empty with just two of us,” he stated plainly, like he wasn’t aware he had made Stiles’ heart jump.

“Derek, you can’t- you can’t say that if you don’t mean it, I swear to god-” Rolling them suddenly so he was hovering over Stiles, Derek grinned lazily down at him.

“Of course I mean it, idiot.” He rolled his eyes. “I started doing research as soon as I saw adoption websites on your internet history.” Stiles was in a daze, probably due to shock that Derek was completely on board with this.

“So, we’re actually going to do this then?” he asked hesitantly.

“I think it’s about time, don’t you?” Stiles beamed.

“I have the best ideas for names. If we get a boy, I was thinking-”

“We’re not naming him after any character from Mario Kart.”

“But that’s our game!” Stiles sighed dramatically. “Fine, then how about-”

“Or Star Wars.”

“Oh my god, you are no fun!” Derek just rolled his eyes and pressed a long kiss to Stiles’ lips. “I’ll convince you eventually,” Stiles mumbled in between kisses.

“You’re an idiot,” Derek mumbled back.

“Mm,” Stiles agreed. It didn’t matter, that would probably never change. Too bad Derek loved him for it anyway.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh gosh I can't believe it's over.. I suck at writing endings, so I'm sorry about this one. But, it is done and you have all been amazing, thank you!
> 
> Don't forget; kudos, comments, love, affection and all that jazz.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr for general stuff about my writing or just for a good laugh: http://siriuslymcfly.tumblr.com/


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